Tribulation of the Chosen
by Shadow Griffin
Summary: Disease can take away every security you thought you had, diminish the strength you worked so hard to get, and make you endure things you never thought possible...even for Jedi, there is such a thing as agony.
1. Trustless Secrets

It's been re-edited to make it sound better! (…now for chapter two…)

Well ladies and gentlemen, it sure has been a while, hasn't it? I've been busy with college-prep stuff and excitement over graduation here recently (not to mention the complete lack of money in my house has forced my mom and I to lose internet, cell phones, TV, and whatnot for a while). I got a request through one of my reviewers of my other Star Wars fic to do this story….so I did!

**Title: ****Tribulation of the Chosen**

**Summary:** What do you do when your body acts without your commands? What happens when you can't stop the inevitability of you slowly dying as you're forced to watch yourself? No one every wants to find that out—even Jedi padawans. Unfortunately for Ahsoka and another unlucky soul, they don't get much of a choice. Their trials and tribulations have been chosen by something or someone other than themselves—and now they're forced to suffer for it.

**Disclaimer:** …Do I really need to do it again? Me no own, you no sue. Kay?

Well folks, without further ado, here's the first chapter to this new fic. Please leave CONSTRUCTIVE criticism and feedback. Flames will be used to light my candles and tar and feathers will be used to mummify my most disliked teacher.

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to PM or email me anytime!

And many thanks to the wonderful Mini Marianne for her help! Enjoy her fics too!

Yours,

~Eliana

It was ridiculous—absolutely, positively, without a doubt proposte…rius (or…whatever word she had heard Master Obiwan use the other day). But it was truly unbelievable, Ahsoka seethed to herself in her mind as she paced back and forth restlessly in her room aboard the _Resolute, _her steps making the familiar clanging of metal to the hard soles of her shoes. Since when did she have trouble with her lightsaber practice?

She had gotten out of a sparring session with her master not ten minutes ago and, much to her frustration and confusion, she had been hands-down beaten, rolled up, tossed aside, and utterly showed-up. She had gotten up several times and tried again under her own silent urging, only to have the process repeated in the same humiliating fashion. Anakin had just given a soft laugh, patted her on the shoulder and said:

"Don't worry about it, Snips. Everyone has an off day every now and then."

That was the problem right there. She wasn't having an off day. She was having an off _week_. Even now, pacing back and forth in the small space of her room, she could feel the odd pain settling in the muscles of her body and her breaths refused to stay with her for very long. A cold chill sent a violent shiver through her body suddenly, shaking her frame with its intensity.

It made her stop her motions and put a hand up on the metal wall to keep her disintegrating balance in check. Her arm shook in the exertion that she put on it and a sudden, sharp shot of pain went through her knees, forcing her to hit the floor hard when the muscles refused to hold her.

The strangled gasp left her lips without permission and she crawled over to put her back against the cold, riveted wall behind her. Then, just as soon as the attack started—

It stopped.

Just like that—it was gone. Ahsoka reached a shaking hand to her face and ran it over her features in an act of desperation to find any kind of norm in this situation, finding that she had allowed her Force signature to slip slightly in the sudden rush of pain.

This had been happening for six days now, and each unexplained attack was more violent and more powerful than the last had been. And of course, Ahsoka being Ahsoka, she didn't tell another soul (well…living soul, anyway) about it.

These… attacks were preceded by trembling, nausea, insomnia, pain and cold—Force forbidding, mind numbing, absolute dark side-calling, straight-from-the-pits-of-Hoth cold. As nature had decreed, a Togrutan's body temperature was several degrees higher than that of any human's (mostly due to their planet's tropical climate and proximity to its star). In the aftermath of those nerve-splicing pain episodes, Ahsoka had found herself beginning to feel an odd difference in her own body's natural flow. She had gotten curious early that morning and 'borrowed' a hand-held temperature checker from the med-bay (without the droids knowing, of course) and had decided to do her own investigation. She ended up being mortified. Her body temperature was the same as her master's – it was now four degrees lower than it had ever been at any point in her life.

She was the padawan of the Chosen One, she had reminded herself after that, and no stupid head-cold she caught on some stupid outer rim planet was going to stop her from learning from the best master she could have asked for. The youngling kept her new-found horror to herself and went about her everyday routines – including her knew one.

"Get up, Ahsoka," she murmured to herself as she struggled to her feet in order to get off the cold floor.

She succeeded after a moment and, fixing her now-wrinkled robes, she headed out to where the Twilight was docked on the other side of the battle ship. She and her master were going to head to the Temple for a few days (Anakin had to have a 'private' meeting with the council and Ahsoka needed to get away from all of the fighting that the war brought with it) and, personally, Ahsoka didn't have a fiber of complaint left in her when it came to the potential two-hour flight that she had ahead of her.

While she walked through the dimly lit and deserted metal halls, she contemplated every instance of the attacks that week. There had to be some underlying pattern to it… maybe some Separatist poison gas that she had inhaled was giving her the trouble. Every poison had a trigger, she reminded herself as she recalled the books she had read in the Archives, and if every poison had a trigger then she just had to figure out what it was and avoid it. It had to be something one the ship. It had to be.

She soon reached the dock where the _Twilight_ waited, ready for its trip to the Temple. She took her time walking up the ramp and into the interior of the ship, pausing for a moment to put a shaking hand out and brace herself again the wall. Her fingers tightened into a fist when another shockwave of pain ripped through her back and stomach, making her pull back her lips and expose the small feral teeth in her mouth in an effort to silence any sound she was going to make. She wasn't going to blow it now.

She whipped her head around when she felt a hand lightly brush her shoulder and, in her blind turn, started to lose her balance and almost fell face-first to the floor.

"Whoa!" Anakin called out, shifting to catch her before she was able to impact the metal and held both of them there for a second, listening to both of their quick breaths.

He stood her on her own feet after a minute, leaving one mechanical gloved hand on her shoulder as he stood up straight.

"You alright, Ahsoka?"

"I'm fine Master," she managed after a minute, "You just… surprised me is all."

She knew that was the wrong thing to say the second it passed her lips—the quirked eyebrow on her Master's face told her that much. No one 'just surprised' Ahsoka Tano (or any Jedi for that matter). It was obvious that Anakin was thinking the same thing when his eyes bore straight into hers, searching for any hint of a lie behind her façade. She let out a silent breath when Anakin nodded slowly in acceptane, dropping his mechanical hand from her shoulder.

"Everything's packed. Close the cargo hold and let's get out of here," he ordered, stepping past her and moving to sit in the captain's seat of the _Twilight_.

The young Togrutan moved to do what she had been asked, releasing the door control for the cargo unit of the ship and watching the durasteel sheet slide into place. When she felt the ship begin to take off, she turned on her heel to head toward her Master and immediately regretted the motion. The familiar pain shot through her center and ribs in a sudden shockwave, making her double over with a sharp intake of breath at its intensity.

Over the deep rumbling of the engines and the whir of the ship's control system, Anakin didn't catch onto the strangled sound and continued to steer the small freighter away from the Jedi cruiser. Ahsoka forced herself to close her eyes tightly and breathe through her nose, trying the only way she knew how to get the pain to pass.

Several long seconds passed before it began to ebb and finally start to die, and she opened her eyes and sighed heavily. Once again, the engine noise concealed her discomfort from her Master, making her feeling somewhat relieved, in spite of herself. The logical half of her brain rebuked her, telling her the one thing that she already knew: it was getting worse. With the more time that passed, the more confused, disoriented, and frustrated Ahsoka became – and she knew that sooner or later, the lie was up. She couldn't hide it forever.

"Are you planning on staying back there all day, Snips?" her Master called back to her, his obvious intention to get a reply. He couldn't completely turn his eyes away from the view in front of him as he aimed the ship clear for the jump to lightspeed, but he did toss a glance back to her.

"Sorry, Skyguy, your flying was so bad I decided to hide back here for a while," she tried to joke back, putting a false strength in her voice.

"Haha, very funny," was his sarcastic reply as he shot them into lightspeed, the entire ship lurching forward.

Ahsoka stumbled slightly at the initial shock but recovered her balance, slowly walking over and sitting in the co-pilot's chair as she watched the stars blur by. She let out a soft breath and unintentionally drew the attention of her mentor.

"You sure you're alright?" he pressed gently, eyes trailing over her body that trembled ever-so-softly without her notice. He noted with concern the pale parlor of her skin and the off-color of her head-tails.

"I'm fine, Skyguy," she quipped, putting on her normal front, "It's just been a long day."

"I know," her Master agreed and leaned back, allowing Ahsoka to relax as well. He took the bait. "I didn't think we'd ever get off that ship."

He got no reply from his young apprentice who had tensed up like a bowstring, biting the inside of her cheek harshly when another jolt of discomfort raced through her system. His eyes on the control readouts in front of him, Anakin failed to notice.

Under any normal circumstances Anakin would have easily sensed her pain and discomfort through the Force the second that they happened, but Ahsoka had been doing a little extra training on the side, teaching herself to block her Force signature from her Master subtly (such a thing wasn't taught or encouraged to padawans, but she had used her spare time during her 'studies' to pick up a few tricks). Her normal conveyance was still there, but every twinge of pain, nausea, and fear was kept to herself while she just hoped that they went away. It made her feel like she was being unappreciative of Anakin's teachings, but the last thing she really wanted was for her Master to know that she was becoming ill and to postpone her training until she got better—if she got better.

She had hidden it from him for six long days until this point and it was beginning to be a little too much for her to bear. Without her Master's intervention, the pains were getting more frequent, more violent, more corruptive—and the cold had become so unbearably numbing that she had started to wear her Jedi robe instead of her usual clothing. The robe doubled for another purpose: she looked awful.

Not only the shade of her skin and her head-tails, but her whole body had begun to bruise and tear. She had small little welts on her stomach, back, arms, and chest that she just couldn't explain… and it happened in a matter of days.

In the back of her mind, she knew that once they reached the Temple, the charade was over. Master Kenobi knew all too well of mind shields (Anakin had used more than enough of them when he was a padawan) and could easily see past hers like he had so many times before- and if he didn't, one of the other Masters surely would. Part of her was so defiant to it, but the other was so tempted to right then and there get on her knees and beg her Master to make it all stop.

She wouldn't allow herself to do that. She was a Jedi padawan—and Jedi didn't beg for help. She shifted slightly to lean back in her seat, reclining against the newly-furnished chair in order to quell the aching muscles in her body.

The pain continued steadily, but she continued to hide it, and tried to ignore it as long as she possibly could with what dignity she had. Ahsoka shut her eyes to steel herself against the unwelcomed feeling and tried to draw in on herself, noting with increasing frustration and worry that she could barely reach the Force.

A sudden lurch of the small ship drew her eyes open and she was met with the all-too-familiar view of Coruscant. It was an unintelligible jumble of emotions that left her mind when they touched down.

The _Twilight_ docked in one of the many landing platforms near the Jedi Temple. Ahsoka pushed herself to her feet when her Master started toward the door at the back of the ship – she quickly followed.

They both walked down the slanted metal ramp and into Coruscant's light, blinking hard a few times to adjust their eyes to the light of the planet and its stark contrast to the dark space they had been flying in. They both immediately recognized the vanilla shaded robes and ginger hair of Jedi Master Obiwan Kenobi as he stood on the duracrete a few feet away from their landing spot.

"Master," Anakin smiled, giving him a polite bow that Ahsoka copied.

Obiwan returned the offered bow with a grin, gazing fondly at both of them as he spoke.

"Welcome home, you two. We have much to discuss," he told them as he gestured them toward the vast Jedi Temple and into its massive halls and turned on his heel, the dark cloak he was wearing blowing lightly behind him.

With a single nod from the pair, the threesome walked down one hall. Obiwan, leading the way, spared the two a glance. The hair on the back of his neck stood straight up when he first noticed Ahsoka - the shields she had up were so strong that he could tell that they were taking their toll on the youngling. She seemed to stubbornly holding them up despite their toll and avoided his eyes when he tried to see past them. When he realized that she was silently begging him to not say anything, he moved to face forward again, silently devoting himself to pick apart the walls she had erected brick by brick without her notice.

"So what's the big rush, Master?" Anakin asked once they stepped deeper into the confines of the Temple, "Why are all of the Jedi in the system being called in?"

"There's been a slight mishap that's caused a bit of a panic," Obiwan told him in his usual informative tone, not tearing his eyes away from where he was going.

Anakin slowed his step for a minute before catching up to his former Master again.

"A mishap? With what?"

"A young padawan has become extremely ill," the older human told him, crossing his arms in front of him as he walked, his eyes suddenly filled with sorrow and remorse, "We've had to send him back to his home planet of Shili to get medical help."

"What about the healers?"

"I'm afraid that they can't figure out what it is. The medical droids had no file on it…and the boy was so cold that the healers swore that he was dead. Apparently it looked like some epidemic with him being so thin—and he had several sores on him that the healers said just wouldn't stop festering. Master Healer Zivan told us that the child couldn't move without shouting in pain…they had to sedate him in order to calm him down enough to get him on the ship safely."

"Force…" Anakin swore, earning him a sharp, reprimanding glance from his former mentor, "Whose padawan was it?"

"It was Master Zimerek's young padawan."

If there had ever been a moment when Anakin's heart had completely stopped, Ahsoka swore it was just then when her master stopped dead in his tracks to stare into the back of his old friend in shock. Obiwan and Ahsoka stopped too, both of them looking back at him with stares of understanding and confusion respectfully as he stood fast in his spot.

"Master Zimerek? Has the council lost its mind?" the Jedi Knight all but screamed out suddenly, earning a hissed silence from his for Master who pulled him and Ahsoka to the side of the hall.

When they were well out of the walk way and out of the gaze of the large number of eyes that had suddenly turned to them, Anakin continued with his sudden bombardment of unrestrained questions.

"Are you nuts, Obiwan? Who would give him another chance to have an apprentice after what he did to that little girl?"

"Anakin, please," Obiwan told him, reaching over to put two hands on his friend's shoulders, "That incident was years ago—Kailem has repaid what he has done and has pledged his loyalty to the Council again. We have too few Jedi left to train apprentices—we need all that we can get."

"That doesn't matter," came the heated reply, "That man shouldn't be given another chance! That poor kid he has now is probably suffering—"

"But not by his hands," Obiwan interrupted calmly. "Yes, he is under observation since the healers found bruises on the child, but Kailem swore that it had all happened because of that illness. Everyone deserves a second chance, Anakin."

"Not him," Anakin told him, looking him straight in the eyes, "If he's here, I'll banish him and take care of his padawan myself!"

"I'm afraid you're too late, Skywalker," a new voice told them. Master Plo Koon stepped toward them, his hands folded calmly in front of him as he approached.

Obiwan released Anakin's shoulders and all three of them bowed to the Jedi Council Member who returned the gesture. Ahsoka leaned against the wall when she stood up straight, offering what she hoped to be a happy smile to her old friend who regarded her with a warm look.

"He has already left for Shili," Plo Koon spoke from behind his mask, "Master Zimerek has proven himself to be worthy of teaching another apprentice, even after his brief turn to the Dark Side he has put himself in a position to be firmly loyal to the Jedi Order."

"Or pretending to be," Anakin shot back at the Master. He moved unconsciously closer to Ahsoka almost as if to shield her from something she couldn't see. "I don't doubt for a second that he's still loyal to the Dark Side—why was he even let back into the Order?"

Master Plo raised a clawed hand for silence and began to speak calmly.

"Skywalker, this is not the place to discuss this matter. I'm sure you and Ahsoka would like to rest after your trip," he stated in a tone that clearly meant the discussion was over, "Your quarters have been prepared and are waiting for you. Master Yoda stated that he would send for you later."

Anakin paced, mulling over what little he had only recently learned. Ahsoka, when feeling brief bouts of relief, quietly watched him. The rest of the time, she mostly struggled to bury her pain deep inside, and not let it well up.

The discomfort which was attacking at this instant finally began to fade, and she glanced between all three tense Jedi in front of her for a long moment before finally speaking.

"Will someone _please_ tell me what's going on?"

Anakin stopped in his pacing, Obiwan (who had put a gloved finger to his chin and had been watching his former apprentice) turned to her, and Master Plo gazed at her for a long while.

"Don't worry over it, little Soka," the Keldorian told her then, "It's nothing you should concer yourself with at your age. Why don't you and Master Skywalker go get some rest?"

Without another word, he turned and headed back toward the Council chambers with Obiwan behind him. Ahsoka let out an annoyed grunt, crossing her arms defiantly and looking at her Master who had yet to speak again since Plo Koon asked him for quiet.

"Come on, Ahsoka," he said finally, gesturing her to follow him as he headed toward their old quarters, "I'll tell you about it later."

She said nothing, but followed obediently behind him. And when they arrived at their old quarters, reeking of nostalgia, she watched her master expectantly. Her gaze broke, when another wave of pain washed over her—and without any distractions, this time Anakin noticed and he quietly approached. She barely heard the sound of his footsteps until he was right next to her.

"Are you _absolutely_ sure you're alright, Snips?"

He reached to touch her with his flesh hand... and a jolt of surprise shot through him when he made contact. Even through the graded, protective cloth of his glove and her Jedi robe, he could feel the undeniable chill of her skin and its unnatural contrast to the way she should have felt. His reaction was immediate after that. He pulled his hand away immediately after that, tore off the glove, and put his hand back on her small left cheek, his eyes widening at the feel of the icy-cold flesh.

"Force, Snips, you're _freezing_!" he shouted, reaching over then to pull her over to where the couch was in the center of the room.

Sitting her down, he began to rub on her arms vigorously to try and restore (what he thought the problem was) blood circulation. When he moved to rub her back, she couldn't help but tense in the sharp pain that suddenly invaded her mind when the sore skin was harshly touched and her Master immediately stopped the motion. When he recovered from the shock, he started to pull of the Jedi robes she had on over her normal clothes.

There was no use in fighting him anymore…and Ahsoka just sat quietly, resigned, as he pulled off the final layer of the dark brown robe to reveal her normal clothes that allowed her body to bear the skin of her back, arms, and stomach. Anakin was horrified.

There were welts—sores, he told himself as he reached a shaking hand over to gently touch one- and it looked like multiple welts had formed on top of one another. They had formed one, popped, formed another, popped again, and appeared to have continued the pattern until nothing but raw skin was left where they had once been.

"Ahsoka…"

He couldn't find the ability to say much more at that instant, so he settled for being quiet—just for a moment so he could swallow and find his voice.

"What happened here, Snips?" he asked her, for the first time since he found out looking her in the eyes.

She quickly turned her gaze away, already shivering with the lack of robes around her body and the effort to word her answer correctly. There was only one real choice.

"I…don't know," she found herself saying as she slowly shook her head, "It just…happened…"

"Why didn't you say anything?" her Master demanded, grabbing the discarded robe and pulling in back tightly around her.

She was silent for a minute. She had never felt so… small before in her life, she realized with a small twitch of her lower lip.

"I was hoping… that it would go away."

"You weren't going to tell me about it, were you?"

His voice sounded wounded—hurt that she didn't seem to trust him enough to confide in him. He shook his head after a moment of silence between them, reaching down to pull Ahsoka to her feet as well.

"Master? What're we doing?" Ahsoka had to ask, tightening the Jedi robes back around her as she shivered.

With an arm wrapped around her shoulders, he began to lead her to the door stating: "We're going to the healers. I don't know what's wrong, but maybe they will."

"Healers?" She stopped dead in her tracks, resisting with what little power she had left against her Master's tugging arm. "They won't know."

"How do you know, Snips?" Anakin stopped as well and looked at her.

He couldn't find the word to describe the look on her face then—it was a mix of too many different emotions at once to be called anything but anguish.

"Did you already forget about earlier, Master? Remember what Master Obiwan said about that other padawan?" Her eyes were shaking a bit now as she finally made her point, "That padawan sounded like me… Master, I think I have what they have."

There was no sound for a long while except for Ahsoka's trembling breathing (while Anakin's was a lack thereof) and a few speeders cruising by the windows outside of the Temple. When he could hold his breath no longer, the human drew in a deep breath and swore in Huttise.

"Come on. Let's go," he said forcefully, dragging her again, "That poor kid is suffering—I don't want that to happen to you."

He was surprised at the resistance that she offered, pulling her bodyweight back instead of following him out of the room.

"No! Master, I want to know about the man you were talking about!"

"Not now. You need to get checked out first."

"Master-"

"_Not now_, Snips. I'll tell you about that—"

"Master, please!"

He couldn't ignore that one and stopped where he stood to look back at her. He could feel his hardened gaze soften at the unshed tears in her eyes and the small tremors in her breath—enough so that he heard himself give a long sigh before doing something he wasn't accustomed to. He pulled his arms from around her shoulders, stepped fully in front of her before kneeling down to be below her height. His hands reached out to clasp her upper arms gently but firmly and, when his eyes locked onto hers, he began to speak.

"Ahsoka, I need you to listen to me."

She swallowed a little bit and looked at him through tired eyes, what little bit of fight she still had in her obviously exhausted and expelled after that last outburst of defiance. She had never seen Anakin look at her this way and it was beginning to make her nervous.

"Ahsoka, the other padawan Obiwan was talking about is suffering—I don't want to see you like that. I can't lose you."

She could feel the fear begin to break through her crumbling shields that she had taken so long to build.

"I don't know what's going on here… but I want you to be safe."

"I know," she reluctantly admitted, trying to tear her eyes away from him.

"If something happened to you, I don't know what I'd do, Snips. Just trust me this time."

"I do trust you Master…:

"Apparently not enough," he reminded her when she finally looked back to him, "but that's not the issue right now. We need to get you help, okay?"

When she didn't move to reply, he decided to play her game for a while.

"Alright, I'll make you a deal. You do this for me and I'll tell you the story of….that man. Deal?"

Ahsoka gave him a look of surprise, but found herself giving him a small smile anyway.

"Even without the council's permission?"

He had to grin at that.

"Of course."

"Deal, Skyguy," she stated, slightly slurring the words together.

"Good girl," Anakin praised and stood up, beginning to lead her to the door of the quarters.

She started to sway heavily and immediately reached out to him as the boiling pain erupted again—this time all over her body, quickly running through her veins and spreading like a wildfire in some desert plain. Anakin was swift enough to turn and catch her as she fell, her mouth letting out an unconscious sharp squeak of pain as he hands dug into the cloth of his tunic.

"Snips?" Her Master tried to call to her, but got no response.

"Snips?"

She knew no more.


	2. Hastened Departures

Alrighty, ladies and gentlemen. Here's the second installment in what is looking to be a pretty long dern story. I hope you like it!

**Disclaimer:** …*sigh* Me no own, you no sue. Okey-day?

Oh! I forgot to mention last chapter: because I have no TV and I haven't had time to catch up on the Clone Wars on YouTube, I don't really know how much of season three is encompassed here…let's say it's between seasons two and three, alright? Just so you have a bit of a timeline to go on.

Remember: please leave CONSTRUCTIVE criticism and feedback. Flames will be used to light my candles and tar and feathers will be used to mummify my most disliked teacher. Thank you so much to all of you that review my stories—even if you just write one sentence, remember that it can make a world of a difference in a writer's day.

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to PM or email me anytime!

Enjoy!

Yours,

~Eliana

The wash of noise was the most reaction to anything Ahsoka had been able to recall for the past six days when she began to pull away from the dark abyss that her mind had lodged in for comfort. It wasn't the sound that had drawn her attention away from the slumbering warmth of unconsciousness, it was instead the vibrations of the noises that entered her montrals and awakened her senses enough to comprehend that there was sound… a lot of sound.

Some of them were easy to comprehend: footfalls, humming machines, voices—though whose she couldn't quite decipher from the tidal waves of waves that thrummed in her head. She went to move her hand to her temples in hopes of easing the quelling headache, but found with a sharp twinge of panic that she couldn't move. Her arm remained immobile on the soft surface that it laid on even when she tried her hardest to move it, her eyes remained glued shut through her strained efforts, and she felt in her mind the sudden realization that the shields she had built up were gone.

The panic was full-swing now and she reacted unconsciously to it, pulling her body more toward full awareness than it wanted to be. Her efforts only halted when the surface she was laying on gently dipped and a warm, uncovered hand found her face.

"Take it easy, Snips," the familiar, warm voice rang in her mind.

Her Force signature jumped through to him again with a heavy sense of panic and fear, her mind fully able to dispel the things her body could not. Anakin tried his best to ease his signature into her mind to create awareness of his presence, and it seemed to work enough that Ahsoka was able to somewhat gain control of the unbridled emotions that were pouring out of her mind. All of them went unchecked, unrestricted, unrestrained out of the youngling's unprotected mind in her panic and she tried to reach her unconsciousness toward the everlasting Force – only to realize that she couldn't find it.

The Force suddenly seemed too difficult to access, too fleeting for her to get a definite grasp of for even half a second as she fought to find the strength within herself to move in order to free herself from this strange prison. The reserves she had were enough for her to force her defiant eyes open enough to focus on the blurry image of her Master perched on the side of the white healers' bay bed. The blur began to change shape and gained distinguishable edge enough for her to comprehend him giving her a small smile in encouragement.

"Hey there, Ahsoka," he told his padawan in a low voice, knowing full well that she could hear it, "You scared me half to death, fainting like that."

Ahsoka summoned the energy to slowly move her lips, only to have the warm hand slip from her face to hold a finger in front of her mouth to halt the motion. She pressed her tired lips together again, shuddering when the odd cold began to press into her bones again. It was then she realized that she was buried beneath several thick blankets that lay on the bed, but, surprisingly enough, they did little to ward away the freezing cold that tore into her body like the ravenous Akul of her world did to the many villages. Her right hand gave a twitch and she felt a small cord tap her arm.

Glancing down toward it, she arched her eyebrow ridges in surprise to see a small IV needle buried in the flesh of her hand, taped securely down with some medical tap and gauze. She shifted her eyes to her master in confusion, wanting to ask him a million questions only to get a shake of his head in return.

"Don't talk, alright? You need to save what energy you can."

Even though Ahsoka hadn't been learning under Anakin for an extreme amount of time, she knew for a fact that she had never seen her Master look afraid before. He was doing a very good job of hiding it, but the emotion was definitely present on his face as he looked into her eyes. If he was scared…what was going to happen to her? What was going on?

The sudden spike of fear through their bond made Anakin's hair stand on end. He could feel the shockwaves in the living Force just as well as any other Master could, and he forced himself to speak out on her behalf.

"Don't worry," he told her, drowning out his own fear and banishing it to the confines of the Force, "I'm not going to let anything happen to you. We're going to get you some help as soon as possible."

The door to the small room opened with the familiar mechanical 'whoosh', permitting a curious-looking, slightly intrigued, and a little bit concerned Obiwan through its entrance. When his eyes settled on Ahsoka, he let out a small smile and walked to the other side of the bed that Anakin wasn't perched on.

"I thought I felt a ripple in the Force," he told her fondly, reaching out to lay a hand on her ice-cold forehead, "Rest for now, young one. We will handle everything."

The words seemed to be enough to quell Ahsoka's immediate fear and she gave into sleep, so willingly closing her eyes to jump into the sweet, warm, painless oblivion of the unconscious world. Anakin released a sigh, only moving to stand when he was sure that his padawan was sleeping soundly.

"I don't like this," he told his former Master shortly, walking to the end of the bed.

Obiwan gave him a look that said a thousand things at once and took his hand from Ahsoka's forehead, moving to join his former apprentice.

"None of us do, Anakin. We will have to play this by ear until we have some solid information to use."

"Not about that," the younger growled, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring at the older man, "I mean just sitting here. We need to get Ahsoka on a ship and get her to Shili right now! We don't have any time to—"

"Anakin, please!" Obiwan hushed him when his friend began to yell. A quick glance at Ahsoka revealed that the noise hadn't woken her back up and, at Anakin's sigh, the Jedi Master turned his attention back to him.

"I apologize, Master," Anakin told him, raising a hand to run it through his hair, "This whole situation just has me…rattled."

"Patience, my former padawan, patience," Obiwan chided gently, "What happens now is the will of the Force and nothing more. We will do everything we can to help her, and right now that means that you have to be calm and willing to do what is necessary."

His only reply was a bob of his friend's head. The older man couldn't help but draw in a slow breath in an effort to gather himself. He was a Jedi – a Jedi Master – and he fully understood and obeyed the Jedi rules on attachment and release…but Anakin always had a way of things that made him rethink the way he ran his life. It was harrowing.

"Anakin, I can see her just as well as you can. I understand how you feel, but if the Force wills it you must be willing to let her go."

Anakin looked up at him sharply and went to reply, only to be cut off by the sound of the door opening. Both Jedi turned to the newcomers, returning the bows that the healers gave with either a nod of the head or a bow in return. The two Twi'leks entered the room with a hovering stretcher not far behind, their traditional Jedi robes flowing like brown banners behind them as they strode purposefully into the room.

"I apologize, Masters," one of them spoke as the other pulled the stretcher over to the left side of the bed, "the ship is here. We must get young Ahsoka on board as soon as possible."

"Of course," Obiwan replied and stepped back a bit to give them more room to work as they set about wrapping a few more blankets around Ahsoka's body and unhooking the small IV needle that had been in her right hand, "Tell me, has their been any word of Zimerek or his padawan?"

"No master," the same healer replied as his colleague set one of the pillows on the head of the stretcher, "We haven't been able to reach them."

Anakin wanted to speak up against what he knew they had to do, but he found that the Jedi standing next to him was protruding a sense of calm and peace through the Force in a solid effort to control his former padawans raging emotions. So instead, the young human found himself watching as the two Twi'leks grabbed opposite ends of the sheets, one at Ahsoka's head, one at her feet and, with a swift nod, they lifted together, making quick work of shifting the child from one bed to the other with practiced precision. Although the movement seemed smooth, it was obviously invasive enough to put pressure on the stressed muscles and festering sores on Ahsoka's body.

She awoke with a sharp yelp that she didn't think to hold back, one that came straight from the bottom of her lungs and displayed a sense of pure pain. Anakin went to step forward but stopped himself when her pain shot through their bond quicker than the pod racers he used to ride on Tatooine.

One of the healers gave a crooning sound of comfort, reaching a dark blue hand forward to set it on the top of her montrals. The child looked at him through swimming eyes and slightly shaking sight when he spoke softly, telling her something that only she and the other healer could hear. Whatever it was, it was enough to calm her down and slowly lulled her back to relaxation, her mind refusing to completely sleep.

They didn't even need to ask if the healers could give her any pain medications – they had heard from them that it was an episode they didn't want to repeat. If Ahsoka had what the other padawan did (and, by the looks of it, there was no way that she couldn't), they didn't want her to be in the same ship with him when they had tried placing bacta on his sores and giving him morphine. They said that the child had quickly descended into hysterics – definitely something that Anakin didn't want for his padawan.

Anakin felt Obiwan place a hand on the back of his shoulder and, suddenly, the pain was gone. Obiwan could feel the conflict his friend was having with the force and had decided to help him release the painful emotions fully into the Force. Anakin send him a wave of gratitude to which he received a warm wave of fondness and love in return before putting his attention back to his padawan. The two healers were tucking the blankets in around her in an effort to keep her from moving and, with a gentle pat on her stomach by the younger of the two, Ahsoka conceded to have herself hovered out of the room on the medical stretcher.

Anakin and Obiwan followed quietly after, Obiwan having removed his hand from his former padawan's shoulder when Ahsoka had quieted down. He knew in the back of his mind that his trip wasn't going to be at all pleasant – he and the council had placed the Jedi Temple on high alert when word of Ahsoka's quarantined condition reached Obiwan via Anakin on his communicator. This was either a sign from the Force or another step in the plot to destroy the Jedi – which of those it was, the Master wasn't quite sure, but he had realized in their meeting that his was a situation that couldn't afford any mistakes. Luminara Unduli and Aayla Secura were roped into helping the two humans get the padawan to the safety of her home planet – Barriss was to stay at the Temple with the other padawans until it was determined safe for them to leave.

Ever since their departure, no word had been received from Master Kailem Zimerek or his padawan, making the situation all the more dire. If someone, or something, had ambushed or killed the two Jedi, it was imperative that they be brought to justice by the members of the Jedi Order. With the few Jedi left in existence, every youngling, padawan, knight, and master counted and each one was to be protected as much as the holy Force itself would allow. It was a load of pressure that no one really needed or wanted… and Anakin wasn't making the situation any easier to deal with. His blatant refusal to wait for a medical transport had forced the council to agree on sending the four elder Jedi and the padawan on a small, unmarked speed-cruiser that was built more for its abilities in strict speed than its ability to sustain patient in any critical medical condition. He had only given a grunt when Obiwan told him that Master Luminara and Master Secura were joining them on their mission, and had only enough mind to grunt out:

"As long as they stay out of my way."

It hadn't really surprised Obiwan when the younger said the blatant comment and had decided against chastising him for it.

The man looked up with a nod of his head in respect to Master Plo Koon when the Keldorian came to slowly walk beside the stretcher, protected eyes locked on the pain-filled face of the young girl he saw as his own daughter. Obiwan couldn't fully comprehend the emotions running through the Master's head, but he knew that when their eyes locked – clouded blue to protected black – that they were both sharing some sort of emotion that was theirs and theirs alone. He respectfully turned his eyes away, feeling more like an intruder on a private conversation more than a Jedi Master ready to escort his friend's padawan to a doctor.

Anakin strode quietly beside him as they walked beside the other side of the floating stretcher, surprisingly keeping his own eyes away from his padawan's face. His facial features were twisted in a way that showed deep concentration and focus and it didn't take his old master very long to figure out what it was that he was doing. With Ahsoka's connection to the Force suddenly loose and shaky, Anakin had taken it upon himself to try and release her emotions and pain _for_ her – it was a display of helplessness on the young Jedi's part to be of any kind of assistance to his young padawan. It wouldn't last for long, Obiwan knew. No one could take that amount of mental strain for very long.

They crossed through the large, stone doors that marked one of the entrances to the sacred Temple, stepping out into the Coruscanti sunlight that blinded their view for a moment. A small, lightweight speeder waited for them at the end of the platform, along with several Masters from the council rooms and some others that were friends of the Jedi in question (Master Yoda, Master Windu, Master Mundi, Master Secura, Master Luminara, and Master Ti stood among them). They all bowed their heads slightly when the group passed, each offering a silent prayer to the all-powerful Force to watch over the youngling and her protectors and, after a slight moment, Master Unduli and Master Secura turned and followed the small party on board.

The healers put Ahsoka in one of the small side rooms, leaving her on the stretcher but laying it on the bed in the small area in order to keep her flat. With a bow to the five other Jedi, they exited the room and the ship, their part of the mission completed now. The remaining peace keepers stood silently, only Plo Koon stepped forward to where Ahsoka was now, locking eyes with her and leaning down to her level. Putting a clawed hand on her blanket-covered arm, he spoke gently:

"May the Force be with you, Little Soka. Be brave for us now."

He sent her as much warmth as he could through the Force. After a brief moment's time, he abandoned his position with one final stroke of Ahsoka's forehead before he left, knowing all too well that he couldn't go with them to Shili. He was needed at the Temple.

Anakin watched him leave with a sigh. He couldn't imagine having to stay behind… He shook his head and immediately went to the bridge. What was he waiting for?

He cursed himself the whole way there, Obiwan following right behind him after shutting the main door to the ship. Both of them took a seat in either the pilot's chair or co-pilot's chair and reached for their respective controls. Anakin had the ship in the air faster than anything he had ever flown before, hitting the controls on the dash like a madman to speed up the exiting of the atmosphere as much as he was able. His former master reached a hand over to grab his, surprising his friend enough with the motion that he stopped dead and looked to his friend. Obiwan gazed at him straight in the eyes and, with a squeeze of the younger's hand, told him quietly:

"Ahsoka will be fine."

Such signs of physical affection were rare between the two ever since Anakin had hit his teens, but Obiwan knew enough about his former padawan that he knew when his touch was necessary – Anakin was just the kind of person that had to ask for it in one way or another first. Anakin took in a breath and, with a squeeze to his old master's hand in return, he told him simply:

"Ahsoka and this other kid getting sick at the same time makes me nervous Master…very nervous. This is… some strange accident, isn't it?"

"There are no accidents, Anakin," Obiwan corrected him quietly, turning his eyes forward when Anakin did.

They released their grips and Anakin steered them clear of Coruscant's atmosphere, pushing the ship as fast as it was willing to go. When they cleared the other shipping lanes to the planet, the young Jedi pulled the lever on the hyperspace control, sending the ship shooting forward into the white and blue world of lightspeed. It was all a matter of their timing now.

There we are! Let me know what you thought and if I should continue or not!

Yours,

~Eliana


	3. Unforseen Details

Well my dears, here's the third chapter! …If anyone's actually reading this, please let me know. That way I'll know whether to continue writing on it or not!

_Disclaimer: _SSDD. (same shi….stuff different day).

Well….enjoy!

Oh! Yeah! I got a review from one of the lovely, wonderful people who actually BOTHERED to do so asking a question: Why is this rated M? It's because….well…you'll see in later chappies. If it gets to that point and I think the rating should jump down, the lowest it'll go is to T. It gets a little…graphic in a bit. Thanks for the question, dear!

Love,

~Eliana

Any fool could tell you that having a body temperature as cold as ice and forcibly drawing in breaths as though there was some kind of guillotine around you isn't good – such horrid things are written in the archives of many species as the markers of harrowing, suffering, and ultimately death. It was that last word that Anakin Skywalker couldn't permit his mind to dwell on for more that half a second at a time. Every time it would flit like a butterfly into his already cramped and swelled mind it was batted away with a gesture of anger and blatant aggravation.

While the jumbled half-thoughts were hardly accounted for by any one circumstance, the aggravation stemmed from the incredibly long, incredibly boring journey that he now found himself on with three other Jedi and his ailing padawan. The current moment found him standing on the pilot's chair with some nameless tool in hand, trying to focus himself enough to figure out what the cause of the small ship's left engine burning out was. By the Force's will they were still miraculously in hyperspace, but the damaged engine only promised more trouble once they exited.

Obiwan sat in the copilot's chair with the small toolbox open in front of him. His eyes (instead of being focused on Anakin or on the blue space outside) were actually staring straight at the dash on the ship, cool grey-blue irises completely out of focus as the man's mind sought after an odd signal he had felt in the Force. It had only been a slight flicker, but it had been filled with such unimaginable terror and fear that he felt the undeniable need to search it out again. It hadn't come from anyone on the ship – that much he was certain of. But for a signal to echo that far into the confines of the Force that he had felt it past the shields he had built up it had to of come from a Jedi… a pretty desperate one that must have touched the Force already.

Luminara and Secura had obviously felt it too. They had connected their minds lightly with Obiwan's to ensure him of their support as they trudged into the Force together. Unbeknownst to his old Master, Anakin had felt it too – much stronger than the other three had. He knew that it came from a young mind, a mind that was trying to call out for some kind of help. What exactly it was trying to say, he wasn't really sure. All he was for sure of was that this blasted ship was falling into little pieces of sheet metal every second that they passed through hyperspace and grew ever closer to Shili.

As if in testament to his thought, the old ship gave a deep groan and trembled a bit as it continued on its way. It gave a great heave before slowly rumbling to silence again. Anakin had stopped his motions when the trembling began but now began to shave the wires down again, blowing out a huff of frustration when he noted that the wire wasn't burnt out or frayed the way he had pictured it. So it wasn't the electrical system…

The rubber-coated wires slipped back into paced with soft clicks and were quickly covered by the durasteel panel Anakin replaced. He took in a deep breath as he stepped down from his spot on top of the chair and reclined fully into it, allowing his eyes to drift over to his old Master's concentrating face. Obiwan never let his guard down like this unless he was sure that he was safe…but it would be too easy…Anakin let his mind judge, too easy to just take a lightsaber to that pale, fleshy neck and end the man's life –

Anakin felt himself gasp in horror at the thought, wildly shaking his head to and fro as if to dislodge something that was caught in his ever unruly hair. The Force shot through him again, flooding away the ominously dark thoughts that had found a place in his mind. Just as he was about to try and decipher the feelings, his head shot up when a tug at his mind had him jumping from his chair and shooting down the hall like a blaster bolt and into Ahsoka's small room.

She was sitting up in her stetcher/cot, hands clutching at the blankets that pooled around her struggling torso, eyes completely unfocused and wavering in their sockets.

"Ahsoka?" Anakin called out slowly, taking a couple quiet strides into the room and shutting the automatic door behind him.

His voice was enough to draw the youngling out of whatever vision or trance she was in, pulling her eyes over to her Master's concerned ones. She parted her now grey-brown lips to speak, only to get a soft quiver of breath and a partial edge of sound in her effort to find her voice.

"Hush," her Maser tried to calm as he crept closer to the bed, "It's okay. Did you sense that feeling too?"

She gave a trembling nod, her fingers grabbing and releasing her blankets so hard that her nails were either breaking small holes in the fabric or were beginning to crack themselves under the strain of the pressure and whatever it was that was doing this to her. Anakin shifted to couch next to the small cot, putting his once again gloved hands on her shoulders and aiding her to lay flat again. Her body gave a small spasm, almost like a giant hiccup, before she turned her head to look at him.

"You don't worry about it, Ahsoka," he spoke slowly, trying to determine whether or not she even understood what he was saying, "You just focus on rest. I'll take care of everything else, okay?"

She gave him the slightest of nods in return, turning her head to focus her watery eyes at the metal ceiling. Ahsoka had made the solemn vow to herself to swallow every bit of discomfort she had in front of her Master – she wasn't weak or pathetic, she demanded to herself. She was stronger than whatever this thing was and she was going to fight it as silently as possible. She barely registered her Master pulling up the four or five blankets to her shoulders again and tucking the edges around her in some desperate attempt to be of help. The only thing that registered in her mind was that she was still cold… and now she couldn't deny that she felt ill.

She was just so… tired. It was a bone-weary, muscle-laxing, mental-straining kind of tired and it made her just want to sleep as long as she could. But the Force seemed unforgiving in that quest and continually drove her from the slumber she so desperately craved and demanded. It forced her to stay awake and endure every stabbing pain and cold chill that shook her thinning frame while she could do nothing but lie there on the cot, trying her hardest not to flat out cry. Her Master slowly stood and, with a quick touch of his chin to her forehead, he headed out of the room and back to the cockpit. She watched him go with a resignment that she couldn't explain, as if she were watching her only solid connection to life flickering away from her. Graying eyelids slid over exhausted, clouded blue irises, and Ahsoka fell unwillingly back into unconsciousness.

Anakin made it about halfway down the durasteel hall before the ship gave a loud roar, pitching itself toward its right side and throwing him off balance and straight into the adjacent wall. He forced himself to get some sort of bearings as he crawled against the pitch toward to piloting chamber of the ship. When he finally made it to his destination, he was surprised to see Obiwan already trying to straighten the ship's course by directing it from the copilot's seat (and obviously having very little success).

"Anakin!" The older man called when he felt his former apprentice's presence in the room, "What's going on?"

"I'm not sure!" The younger replied when he finally got into his seat, activating the main controls and trying to adjust the ballast of the ship, "We keep hitting gamble lock!" he managed to grit out as the ship spun out of control through hyperspace.

The gamble lock made the ship refuse to respond to any command its pilot gave it, pivoting like a mad bantha in the small tunnel of hyperspace. The computer came alive with incessant beeping and blaring, several likes coming of with flashing warnings of bus undervolts, flowhide blocks, and pressure malfunctions in the ship's core.

With no other choice, Anakin reached over and pulled the release on the ship's hyperdrive, allowing the wounded ship to exit its top speed and begin lurching through space. To his horror, Shili was a suddenly large presence in the main window.

"The coordinates weren't locked!" He shouted out to his Master, "We're already in the pull of gravity!"

He tried to quickly pull the emergency shudders on the wings but the ship just gave another groan, the right-side engine giving a keen whine before burning out.

"We're too steep, we can't pull out!"

He realized the control in his right hand to pull the seatbelt across his chest and waist, tightening it down.

"Strap yourself in! We're gonna have to make an emergency landing!" he warned Obiwan.

The elder tried to do as instructed, only to call out a second later:

"Anakin, the safety belts on this side don't work! I'm going to go strap myself in with Ahsoka!"

"Just hurry!" was the reply practically screamed back as Anakin pulled harder on the ballast controls, trying his hardest to get the ship pointed at an angle that would avoid incineration. The controls that weren't made of durasteel began to drip water back at his face when the ship hit the atmosphere, the ever increasing velocity creating a wall of fire on the outside of the ship. Anakin squinted his eyes against the angry red glow to try and find some semblance of solid ground beneath them. When it did appear, he realized with a growing sense of sickening horror that they were nowhere near any kind of civilization – only grassland and a couple sparse creeks lined the land below the descending ship.

With a final cry-out of determination, Anakin managed to get the nose of the ship up just as the belly of the machine hit the ground with a deafening crash, sending the inside of the ship reeling, twirling, and twisting as the metal monster skidded across the solid stone Anakin had put it on. With a final crippling lurch it ground to a halt, leaving nothing but smoldering rock, twisted metal, and a world of pain in its wake.

Hope you enjoyed! R&R please!

Love,

~Eliana


	4. Anxious Assessments

Yo! I have returned! Oh man, if I could explain only half of the stuff I've had to go through over the past week, I could probably write a book (although with my scarce writing ability I doubt anyone would buy it). Long story short, I now live in a college dorm room with a dinosaur-radioshak laptop that doesn't understand wi-fi. So I have to type my chapters upstairs in my room and take them downstairs to the community comps to publish them. Meh. Not fun.

Disclaimer: Look, if I owned any part of _Star Wars_, I wouldn't have 11k worth the student loans to my name. End of story.

Summary: Check previous installments please!

Well, here's chapter 4 – finally! I hope you enjoy it! As always, constructive criticism is more than welcome. Feel free to PM me (please note that my email has changed due to the move so if you have tried to contact me in the last couple of weeks, that's why. I do believe I changed it on yesterday though).

Enjoy!

Yours,

~Eliana

**IOIOIOIOIOI**

Exactly which sound brought him back to awareness didn't present itself to Anakin Skywalker when he awoke, but the all-together jumble of noise quickly had him shaking his aching head and looking around blearily to decipher his surroundings. The young Jedi found himself suspended in his chair on his side, the co-pilot's seat and the passenger side of the ship half buried or half gone below him. The soft crackling of a fire outside the remaining durasteel walls played evidence to his most recent 'happy landings' (or so Obiwan had the habit of calling them) and a few sharp pops of frayed or broken electrical wires on the dash in front of him hissed menacingly of their sole objective being completed. The ship was down – on a rock, Anakin knew from the slivers of dark-grey stone that showed through the mutilated ship's side, but at least they hadn't landed in the middle of the scrublands. If he remembered anything from his galactic environmental horticulture classes it was that the scrublands of Shili were easy to burn – and almost impossible to stop once they were alight.

Shili – the home of the Togruta…Togruta… Ahsoka! His mind snapped and reeled from the sudden remembered concept and he found himself flailing in the captain's seat, undoing the belt that held him in place without a second thought, gravity yanking him down to the wrecked bottom (or side) of the ship. His Jedi training had him landing on his feet rather easily without even considering using the Force. His legs were trembling and sent him stumbling for a slight moment, raising a quivering hand to his face to try and wipe away the lethargy while he shimmied his way over to the cockpit door. Thankfully the electronics seemed to recognize their function after a moment and the door whined aside, allowing the stumbling man to crawl up into the once-pristine hallway.

A sudden thumping sound slightly above him on his right had him instinctively reaching for his lightsaber (although anyone who even glanced at him and his slowly bruising forehead could tell that he was in no shape or mind to wield it) that was tied to his hip, but the next sound he heard had his hand falling away and him rushing poorly to the damaged door.

"Skywalker!" came Luminara Unduli's voice – although haggard, it meant she was still alive- through the heavily twisted metal sheet.

"I hear you, master!" Anakin told her once he had gotten close enough, resting one hand on the door and the other on the open command key.

There was no response. He pressed the button again. No response.

Stumbling back a step, he raised his shaking arms and hands above his head as he widened his stance, forcing himself to focus on removing the door in front if him…and yet, no matter how many times he had done it before, he found himself gaping like a fish out of water when a sudden, unwelcome, ugly truth came to slap him in the face. He tried again, this time with even less hope than before. No result.

"The Force," he heard himself whisper, bringing his hands back down to his eyes level so he could stare at them in disbelief.

The moment passed and he shook his pounding head, choosing plan B next. His lightsaber was retrieved from his hip and he held it in front of him, clicking the button on its hilt to turn it on. And as if by some Sith-sent Hell, the saber flashed slightly, fizzled, and burnt out again over the course of two seconds. A frustrated brow furrowed and Anakin tried again, flipping the switch down (for the off command) before flipping it back up again, only to have weapon do nothing but tremble slightly (whether by his own shaking hands or the process of turning on, he wasn't quite sure) before it shut itself down again.

Anakin gave a mixture of a growl and a scream in frustration, casting the useless thing aside and behind as he stepped forward to pound on the door in front of him.

"Master Unduli, my lightsaber's useless!"

"My own was broken in the crash," came the reply, "and I cannot seem to use the Force here."

"Neither can I. What's happened to Master Secura?"

"I'm here," her voice was hardly audible, shaking slightly with a note of pain, "I'm afraid I'm not much better off, Skywalker. My lightsaber is not working either and I can feel no trace of the Force."

"Sith spit!" the youngest Jedi cursed, not even stopping long enough to hear any reprimands that may have come his way, "We'll have to do this the old-fashioned way. I'm going to try and find something I can use to get you out."

"Hurry, Skywalker," Unduli told him before he was once again stumbling down the hall.

Despite his words, he wasn't actually looking for any kind of item to get the door open with yet – he was making a beeline for the door that lead to Ahsoka's room. Due to the way the ship had tumbled the room now lay below him and to the side, resembling a cellar door to a storm-keep that many planets had in case of emergency. The Jedi Knight pounded his fist against the door with a sense of urgency.

"Ahsoka! Obiwan!" he called to it, almost fainting in relief when his old mentor's voice called back to him.

"We're here, Anakin," the man told him rather calmly from his side, "We've both got a few bumps and bruises but we'll be fine."

"The lightsabers don't work, Master," his former padawan stated, his voice rough with anxiety and a slight hint of anger, "And neither me or Masters Unduli and Secura can actually use the Force."

"Be calm," he was instructed, "My lightsaber doesn't work either but we'll be fine. Try and see if you can get the door open."

Thankful for the guidance Anakin did what he was told, pressing the command button and thanking the Holy Force when the mutilated metal began to slide aside with a heavy groaning and screeching. It only opened to three-quarters of its set distance but it was enough, revealing the elder human man on the ground (or side) of the ship with Ahsoka, still wrapped up in her bundles and blankets, held securely to him. Both looked a little worse-for-wear but they didn't seem to be bleeding too heavily and hadn't told him that they were sporting any broken bones for which Anakin was thankful.

"Well hey there," he tried to joke when he saw them, "you two look comfortable."

It earned him a chuckle from Obiwan and a weak smile from Ahsoka, at least brightening the mood a little. The Jedi Master inside the room shifted so that he was partially standing, moving his bundle slightly so that he could pick her up without much effort.

"I'm going to pass Ahsoka to you," he told his friend as he walked toward the door that was slightly above him, "I'll follow after."

His slight burden was carefully passed into the arms of her master, Anakin's heart singing just at the sight of his padawan blinking at him blearily from where she was lying. She was alive.

"Good to see ya, Snips," he told her warmly as he gently adjusted her in his arms, arranging himself to sit on the ground where he was so that he could hold onto her and reach down to help his master at the same time.

Obiwan had to struggle a little to get out and the grunts of pain set of Anakin's sense of foreboding in his mind.

"Are you alright?" he questioned, laying a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Yes, yes," Obiwan brushed off the pain, "I may have bruised a few ribs when we crashed – nothing too serious. Come, we must get our fellow Jedi out of their cave."

With a grunt of acceptance Anakin reluctantly relinquished his hold on Ahsoka, allowing Obiwan to collect her once more so his former padawan could rise to his feet. Anakin was up soon enough and was digging around in some of the wreckage in search of something (of what Obiwan wasn't quite sure at first) but he was surprised when his friend gave a whoop of triumph and held up a piece of torn sheet metal that was around two feet long. Before he could ask his friend's intentions Obiwan grimaced, the sound of the metal impacting the durasteel wall reverberating around the remaining section of hallway that still stood. It crashed down again before Anakin held it up and examined it with scrutiny for a moment before turning back around to face Obiwan. He had made a pry bar.

The elder Jedi stepped back with Ahsoka in his arms, the padawan letting out a breath of frustration as all she could do was watch her master's proceedings from her spot. Anakin spared her a small smile as he passed, stopping in front of the other door that imprisoned Unduli and Secura.

"Masters, back away from the door. I'm going to try and pry it open," he warned as the recently-created bar was shoved into a dent in the metal.

"Hurry Skywalker," Unduli told him, voice oddly calm, "I fear the fuselage is near the fire."

"It's not," Anakin grunted out as he put all his weight against the bent door, "The fire took the engine on the opposite side. We're…" he paused as he took a breath before he resumed pulling, "on the other side. The fuselage is under us. If it was…" he paused again, joyful when the metal began to slide aside, "gonna go, it would have already."

He had to halt his efforts for a moment, taking in deep breaths to try and help his burning arms and readjusted himself, placing a foot up onto the side of the door frame and continued pulling. The added force allowed him to begin to slide the door open, Luminara on the other side of it using her hands to grab and pull as well. With a final grunt of effort from Anakin and another strong pull the door slide open, sending the young man crashing to the ground with a reverberating 'thud'. Painfully he sat up, slowly moving to stand once he was sure that he had no broken bones (out of all the times he had gotten angry at his master for making him do all of his Force practice, he had never wanted to release things into the Force this badly before).

"Master Unduli," he grunted gruffly as he helped her out of the room, his hands on her hips to help set her down, "Where's Master Secura?"

"She's hurt, Skywalker," the woman told him once she was settled on the ground, "I think I need to go back-"

"I'll get her," Anakin told her, reaching up to grab onto the doorframe and heave himself into the broken confines of the room.

"This is another fine mess we've gotten into," Obiwan stated lightly once Luminara had joined him and the silent Ahsoka.

"Indeed it is," the master conceded, glancing over the prone form in his arms to see if she was hurt, "And I fear that this will not be as simple of a task as we had hoped." 

"I agree," Obiwan told her, shifting Ahsoka's weight slightly, "I fear that with the ship in this condition there's no hope of sending communications to Coruscant – or anywhere for that matter."

"We'll figure it out," Anakin's voice sounded as he jumped down out of the room, reaching up to try and aid Secura down as well. She had a pretty decent-sized swatch of missing skin on her temple and her left leg looked torn up, oozing small rivets of dark red blood through the blistered and bruised flesh, "We have to. I'll look around and see what I can salvage before we head out."

"It might be best if we wait for cover of darkness," Obiwan started, only to start when Ahsoka began to shake her head violently from her place in his arms, "Why not, child?"

She tried to speak, but only a few wisps of arm left her cracked lips in response to him. She let out a frustrated huff, fighting past the pain and Sith-wrought cold to bring her trembling right arm and hand out of the blanket, pointing a pale finger to her head. Several looks of confusion were sent her way and she drew a pattern on her lekku, trying to show them something. It was Master Secura who got the message first.

"The akul," she whispered and Ahsoka nodded, grateful that at least someone understood what she was trying to say. With the absence of her headdress that the Jedi healers had removed she had tried to draw it in the air and thankfully one of them understood.

"Then we must leave as soon as possible," the man holding Ahsoka told them to which they all agreed, moving in separate directions to try and gather supplies.

Master Secura settled herself on the ground a little ways down the hallway, allowing Obiwan to put his bundle down on the master's right side so that she could keep an eye on the ailing youngling. He went off back into the small medical room that he and Ahsoka had been in, gingerly easing himself into the space so that he could find some sort of medical supplies – Aayla's leg didn't look good at all and it needed to be cleaned (or at least bandaged) in an effort to avoid infection. He pulled open one of the cabinets and frowned at the scarcity of items there but collected them into his makeshift crate he had found none-the-less. There was a small tub of bacta, three roles of gauze, and a couple small packages of bandages – nothing that would help too much in the long run.

Obiwan quickly raided the other cabinets, managing to collect a thermometer, a small durasteel basin, another small thing of bacta, a few sealed boxes of gauze, and a sealed jar of popsicle sticks. If they could survive the scrublands of Shili with these supplies, he'd be amazed. Snatching a small pair of tweezers he found on the floor he added them to his stash before leaving again.

Obiwan crouched next to Aayla with the crate, pulling out one of the things of bacta and a roll of gauze.

"I'm afraid my healing skills aren't the best," he apologized, retrieving the tweezers and rubbing them down with bacta before trying to carefully remove the tiny pieces of metal from the weeping wounds on his friend's leg.

"It's fine," the other hissed out, forcing herself to slightly bend he knee so Obiwan could do his painful task. She closed her eyes and breathed heavily in pain, slightly frustrated with the fact that she couldn't release her feelings into the Force and chose to swallow it instead.

The other Jedi worked as quickly and gently as he could, feeling the familiar churning of nausea in his stomach as he pulled out piece after piece of blood-soaked metal bits, dropping them to the floor. With no medical gloves his hands were obviously soaked in the other's blood and he had to try and ignore it, tearing off his tan sash to use it as a towel to wipe his hands dry every now and then. It was after a few minutes that he felt satisfied enough with that work that he put down the tweezers and opened one of the sterile gauze pads, dipping it in the now-open jar of bacta to collect it. The antibacterial was spread onto some of the open gashes, drawing a hiss out of the Twi'lek Jedi who leaned her head back fully against the wall behind her.

"These need to be sutured," Obiwan murmured once he set the soiled gauze down, beginning to wrap the wounded appendage as best he could, "But we don't have those kinds of supplies – and I don't have that kind of medical knowledge."

He finished tying the gauze off and wiped his bloody hands on his already-ruined sash before picking up another piece of gauze and doing the same thing to his friend's head.

"I'm afraid this is the best I can do," he stated after he was finished, sitting back on his heels to observe his handiwork, "We need to find a way to keep you off of that leg."

"I would say that we can make a litter," Anakin stated as he and Luminara returned with a few skins of water, "But I don't think we have those things readily available. And there's not a lot to make one out of around here."

"I will walk," Aayla spoke, ginergly climbing to her feet once she was sure that Ahsoka could hold herself up. Anakin's hands grabbed her side until he was sure she was secure, "I'll be fine," she assured them all.

"Alright," Anakin conceded as Obiwan began to collect his medical supplies, "We have a few cases of water and a few ration sticks. Let's hope we can make it a good ways on that."

"I fear you may be mistaken, Skywalker," Luminara called back from where she was gazing out of the exit of the ship. With a furrowed brow the young man went to join her, freezing when he took in the same sight she just had.

As far as he could see in any direction was nothing but turu-grass, a few rocks, and the occasional gust of warm wind. Whatever prints of thimiars or other creatures were mixed into the striped grass under the ship and Anakin let out a breath in defeat. They were in the middle of nowhere.

No lightsabers, no use of the Force, two (actually three) injured party members, no shelter in sight, no means of communication… they were in trouble.

**IOIOIOIOI**

That's all, folks! Lemme know what you think (no flames)!


	5. Unsuspected Welcomes

Next chapter up! And this one is the longest one yet – I think. No, I'm positive. Maybe. Anyway, I was sick all day Tuesday with these migraines that just….popped up and have yet to fully stop and nothing even touches them So when I finished my other assignments out of boredom I got to move onto the fun stuff!

Ever since 9/11 (Bless the Fallen) I've wanted to do the Air Force here in the US, only to get turned away the first time because of my weight (kinda odd, right?). With the ten-year anniversary here recently I've decided to try again once my weight goes down (I don't have a scale so good luck with that, right?). Well, me being a vegetarian and running every other day should help.

Disclaimer: Star Wars is awesome. Totally…if I could claim it, I would and then give my profits to my mom who can't even afford to buy food and who will be evicted from the house she's renting next months due to inability to pay. 'Nough said.

Summary: Check previous installments please!

Well, here we go. Read, enjoy, and review please! And as always: don't flame me. Don't even THINK about flaming me. Just don't do it – I'm not the best person to mess around with.

I'll explain the language I used for the Togrutans (calling them Togrutas…bothers me for some reason). I looked but I didn't see any real hint at their language anywhere so I mixed Old Celtic, some Latin, bits of Spanish, French, and then an imaginary language together and BOOM. Here you have a random language.

Hope you like it!

Love,

~Eliana

**IOIOIOIOI**

"I still don't see how this is funny," Anakin told his former master sourly from where he supported a heavily limping Twi'lek master beside him.

"Oh no, Anakin," Obiwan managed over his light chuckling, shifting Ahsoka slightly in his arms as he walked, "This isn't a humorous situation – it's an ironic one."

"I don't know about you, but it's always been my life's dream to have spears _pointed at me in the middle of nowhere on Shili_!" came the heavily sarcastic reply of the younger man who sent a slight glare to the Togrutan pack members surrounding them and leading them toward a small collection of tall trees.

"Embi!" one of the males behind him ordered, poking him in the back with a rather sharp spear.

"Although I am not versed in Togruti, I believe he has ordered you to silence yourself Skywalker," Unduli told him, earning a glare herself.

One of the Togrutans let out a sharp breath, shaking her head in what Anakin could only guess was a display of power. The actual nature of the more… feral people of Shili was a mystery to most, but the things that they did know (shoeless hunts, wearing prized skins and teeth, following a pack order) were all present in this group. The eight or so hunters were surprisingly led by a female and she hardly looked to be the kind of person who would question someone's motives before taking them down. The sheer speed and strength that all of these people had displayed not long ago when they had apprehended the trespassers was something that Anakin had never seen before. Another of the hunters made a low sound in his throat and most of the rest reacted in one way or another – a flash of feral teeth, a tossing of a head, a release of heavy breath, a sound in return – they were talking to each other without words.

Obiwan was fascinated by the whole display. His complaining ribcage had been vibrating for the past twenty minutes of walking and it had taken him this long to figure out exactly what was causing it. Sound waves (or so he recalled from a long time ago in his astro-physics class at the temple) usually bounce off solid objects and echo elsewhere but if the sound was at a low enough frequency it could travel for a great distance. Lower sound couldn't be heard by human ears and that was exactly what was happening – these Togrutans were able to change the pitch of their sounds so that only they could hear them and gather unbeknownst to prey. It was a great hunting strategy.

He and the others were suddenly forced to halt under the shady cover of the tree grove. The female at the head of the pack turned back to them and, looking over her fellow Togrutans, spoke quickly in the native Togruti language to them. At the positive replies she turned her attention back to the Jedi, holding a hand palm-up to them. She pushed it toward them and then pointed to the ground before repeating the motion again to ensure that they understood what she was trying to say. It was a simple message:

'Wait here.'

Obiwan nodded his head in agreement before sharing the message with his fellow Jedi who consented to the command, watching the woman quickly disappear deeper into the undergrowth of the trees and leaving them in the care of her pack mates. With a heavy grunt Obiwan managed to get his shaking legs to cooperate with him long enough to get himself situated on the ground, his light bundle releasing a few clicking sounds in annoyance at the shift. If any species stood a chance against the Separatists, Force or not, Obiwan told himself, it would definitely be the Togrutans. The efficiency of their overtaking had been so unbelievable he hadn't been aware what had happened until he was on the ground with a spear pointed at his face.

He wasn't sure exactly how long they had been walking at that point, but the heat here was so oppressive they had to take shelter several times under small shrubs and trees so they could get a momentary break from potential heat stroke. Even though Ahsoka was wrapped within several layers of blankets, she had the least amount of danger to her – if anything, this may have actually helped her. The drop in her body temperature had her on the verge of hypothermia and the crippling heat combined with the blankets may have provided her with the warmth she needed to stay alive for as long as she had up until that point. The only downfall to that hope was the child's blatant refusal of water. Every time a bottle was but to her lips the grey pieces of flesh curled inward together and she would do her best to hide her face from it as if to say 'I don't think I can'. It was something that had them all baffled but they quickly dropped it and moved on to the next bit of shade. If they sat there and argued with Ahsoka they wasted precious time – time that neither the padawan or the ever-weakening Master Secura had a lot of.

It was on one of these stops that they got the surprise that none of them had been expecting. The great star Ogari was just setting in the sky, splashing it deep colors of red, orange, and yellow, but the beauty of that sight was stolen from the Jedi hunkered down in the shade of a large boulder that was situated in the grasslands. Anakin had volunteered for first watch once light had gone and was chewing half-heartedly on a ration stick as he sat next to Luminara, almost pleading with the giant yellow star to slow its decent and to keep night at bay. Their makeshift campground had its downfalls as well as its advantages (as did almost everything in life). Because they set their small sleeping area lined with turu-grass on the east-facing side of the boulder, they were not only in the shade of the stone against the moonlight but they were also shielded from the west-blowing wind. Directly in front of their sleeping area about a quarter of a mile away was a sheer rock face. If any wind did pick up their scent it would move it straight into the stone wall and dissipate it before it could make it out into the fields where potential predators lurked.

Thanks to some really odd (but ever welcome) good luck that they all seemed to have, they hadn't run into any creature on their track across the white (or it looked white from this side) grassland. Not so much as a random thimiar jumped into their path and they were all incredibly thankful for that. That was the upside of their current situation.

The major downside was their obvious lack of blankets for warmth (not counting Ahsoka's), their inability to create any fire due to the lack of long-lasting fuel and the high danger of being seen due to the light, and (as much as Anakin hated to admit it) the smell. They were living creatures and, being so, they obviously produced waste. The dangers of lurking far away from the campsite in the effort to protect their vanity was the largest deterrent so they had dug a very small ravine on the opposite side of the large boulder to make a natural toilet of sorts. They all had to use it and the smell was bad, but at least that was a workable issue.

They were all relatively curled together, Luminara and Secura with their backs against the stone, Obiwan and Anakin curled against each other with their backs facing the wall in the distance, and Ahsoka shaking and shivering in her blankets held against Obiwan's chest with her legs being supported in Anakin's lap. It was cold on Shili at night – Ogari hadn't even fully set and yet the temperature must have dropped a good twenty degrees or more.

A single, solitary puff of air was their only warning to the attack that happened not a minute later. Ahsoka had blearily opened her eyes and was staring at something out in the distance, alerting the four other Jedi of a potential threat. Anakin re-situated himself and got to his feet right as a thundering cloud of red and white surrounded them. The figures circled and quickly drew their weapons, pinning the five Jedi together in a double-circle of spears, daggers, and shining feral teeth. The circle of enemies closest to the center each had a sharp knife to each of the intruders' throats (but for some reason left young Ahsoka be) and those on the outside aimed for the skulls of their captives with sharp spears. Footsteps on the stone behind them had all of the eyes of the Jedi shifting up to where a female Togrutan stood, bow drawn tightly back with a sharp arrow aimed at them.

"Ai savi?" She questioned them, pulling her upper lip back slightly to reveal sharp teeth, "Ahna cora situei ne gruena?"

If there had ever been a time where Obiwan laid out praise to his late master for forcing him to learn a multitude of tongues, this was it. He was in no way fully versed in Togruti, but he could at least understand and reply to the very basics.

"Nayui situei," he told her, "Nayui situei."

'We are your friends,' he spoke through common in his head as he slowly reached down to his side to retrieve his useless lightsaber.

One of the stone spearheads pressed precariously into his throat and threatened to end his life, but a quick order from whom he assumed was the alpha had the weapon backing off ever so slightly. Once his hand surrounded the lightsaber he unhooked it from his belt and slowly brought it up so that the Togrutans could see it.

"Vieci Jedi," he told them, "Nayui situei."

"Nala," the leader ordered her people, the wooden bow lowering down to no longer pose a threat to them, "Niemshei."

The other hunters had complied with the order, bringing their knives and daggers back to their bodies but keeping them in a potential striking position in case these visitors posed a threat. The child they had with them was just like the other and they were quickly growing irritated at the presence of people who seemed to enjoy hurting these young ones. If these… 'Jedi' as they claimed to be had hurt this child by their own terms, they would not escape this territory alive. Four of the elders among them were parents themselves and had younglings waiting for them at the grove when they returned and the young girl before them was in an extreme amount of pain and discomfort – it was enough to make all of them tense and want to drive their weapons into the skulls of whomever had condemned her to this.

Most of the hunters had already caught the scent of blood and infection the second they had surrounded these visitors. If their beta ordered it they would escort them back to the cover of their home and to the guardianship of their alpha… if not, it wouldn't be much of a surprise if the akul or the planet itself took their lives. Too many of these ill-prepared people walked on this planet and should it be found that they hurt this child under their own power they would be sure that these people knew that before they met their ends.

"Agaiya," the female told them, gesturing to the Jedi, "Amout aseiya."

"She wants us to get up," Obiwan told Luminara and Secura who both weakly climbed up.

Obiwan himself gathered Ahsoka closer to him, trying to keep her sounds of pain from reaching the other (and obviously more angered) Togrutans. Just as he was debating how he was going to climb to his feet two pairs of strong hands reached out and grasped him under his armpits, pulling him successfully to his feet with relative ease. Once they were sure the human had a grip on his charge they released him and retrieved their weapons. Not long after the group was trudging away from the campground, watching Ogari sink into the warmed ground and throwing the world of Shili into darkness.

"Obiwan!" Anakin's call came loud in his ear and it made him jump. The younger was standing in front of him with Secura limply leaning against his side, "They want us to keep moving, I think."

His former padawan was correct Obiwan gathered as the strong hands once again aided him to his feet and led him and the others through the lightly forested area. The female had returned (oh how Obiwan wished he knew her name – dubbing her 'the female' or 'the woman' was too cold for him) and was leading the way, drawing them toward a set of soft-sanded wooden stairs that led into a larger wooden building.

The actual air in that room was warmer than the rapidly cooling air that the outdoors harbored even though no fire was visible within the chamber. Multicolored furs hung from the wall like wall paper and some even covered the floor as a carpet, splashing the darkened room into a multitude of grey, white, brown, orange, red, and black spaces. A figure cloaked in a long black fur stood at the end of the chamber upon a step, standing with an air of dignity that the Jedi quickly translated – this was their Togrutan alpha; it had to be.

"Daibu," the cloak ordered sternly in a woman's voice to the guards and the other young female Togrutan behind them, all of them bowing respectfully and quickly leaving the Jedi in the care of their leader.

It was a long moment after the others had left before the woman revealed herself, two wine-red hands reaching up to pull back the fur hood that covered her head and obscured her face. High cheekbones marked with the white birthmarks of the Togrutans was the first thing that made itself known – then her eyelids slid open to unmask the orange eyes hidden beneath the surface. A mutilation on the right side of her face told of a hunt or battle of power where she had almost been outmatched – but if it had been one of the legendary Akul, it was obviously no longer among them based on the large teeth perched as a prize on top of the regal head. The one thing that caught Anakin's eye before anyone else's was the second headdress that wound across her forehead. It bore a symbol carved out of what he could only assume to be a tooth, but it wasn't what it was made out of that he understood. A flash of memory forced him into the past where he stood behind Ahsoka at on of the many computers of the Jedi Temple's Library gazing at a photo she had pulled up.

Master Fisto had just returned from a mission in the outer rim of the galaxy with an odd trinket that he found and it just so happened that Ahsoka and Anakin were the first two people he came across when he had returned. Ahsoka had recognized the symbol immediately and had demanded (much to her Master's frustration) where the other Jedi had gotten it. Upon learning that it had come from a cell that he had explored in a prison on a Separatist occupied planet the child had quieted considerably, doing nothing more than bowing her head for the rest of the conversation between the other two Jedi. It wasn't until she had taken him to the library later on and showed him the photo that he understood what that thing was, and now he found himself in the position of meeting one of Shili's traditional pack leaders.

When he bowed as much as he could, the others did as well, Obiwan only managing a slight tilt of his head with Ahsoka in his arms. The woman nodded her head in recognition of the movement and, to their surprise, began to speak in Common.

"You are like those who came here before," she started, burning eyes staring right through all of them, "Who has sent you here?"

"Alpha, we have been sent by the high Jedi Council," Anakin told her, adjusting his grip on Master Secura, "We have come seeking help for our sick youngling."

The alpha growled and flashed her teeth, pushing her chin up so she could look down upon them.

"Jedi," she ground out with a hint of distaste, "Two times now have I been in the presence of a child who cannot speak for themselves – two times have they been bared by Jedi."

She sucked in a breath and frowned deeply, tilting her head to study them.

"Yet you are different from the other. I will tell you young one that there is no war here on Shili…unless you have planned to bring it with you."

"No, my lady," Luminara spoke for the first time, "We mean no harm to the people of Shili. Our youngling is very ill and our friend," she gestured to the almost-limp Secura, "Is injured. We cannot use our weapons and the Force is seemingly gone from this place."

"You are mistaken," was the reply, the woman slowly walking on bare feet down the steps, "Your Force is not gone from this place. It is merely useless to those who do not possess the knowledge and heritage to use it."

At their looks of confusion she sighed, her facial features finally relaxing into a peaceful looking expression.

"This is a sacred land. The Force here is… selective of those who may use it," she explained, walking toward one of the windows that faced in the general direction of north, "And your weapons prove themselves useless on this side of the hills because of the Guguso stone. It kills any…what is the word…electrical things you may have, no matter how minute."

Undoing the ties that held the pallet of fur over the space she pulled it aside, pointing off into the distance, "Should my judgment prove me correct, your destination is Corvala, is it not?"

"Yes m'lady. But how did you –" Obiwan started to question, only to silence himself when she waved a hand.

"That is where the dark man was headed with the young boy," she told them.

Replacing the fur and tying it down, she turned back to face them and locked her eyes on the distressed child that had started to make her presence known.

"You are on the wrong side of the hills," the alpha informed them as she approached, "and if this child is anything like the last she does not have much time."

"How is the child?" Luminara questioned her.

"He and his Jedi friend left here not three sun passes ago. We gave them a flyer to head toward the city. We can only assume that they made it there."

When she reached Obiwan she stretched out a careful hand, brushing the backs of her fingers against the stone cold flesh of a cheek almost hidden beneath the blankets.

"You don't know?" Anakin translated, suddenly quite frustrated, "How can you not know?"

"Anakin!" Obiwan shot to his former padawan. They were in this woman's good graces thus far and he would really like to stay that way.

The alpha let the child rest her head against the warm hand as she turned back to the Jedi, quirking the flesh above her eye in a peculiarly close reenactment of Master Quigon's old 'look'.

"Am I responsible for every creature who passes through my village, child? I should think not. You see, when you live in the wilderness and one person catches the Plague, everyone feels it around them."

"With all due respect," Anakin replied with an angry shake of his head, "What the in the name of kriffin hells does that mean?"

"It means," she clarified with a slight growl, "that there was something wrong with that man who came here with that child. Unlike this young one that boy wasn't afraid of what was happening to him – he was afraid of that… monster. He had an air of evil around him and ever since he left things have been a lot better."

She nodded to the Togrutans who entered the tent next, having responded to her low call.

"I will have flyers prepared for you and your friend needs to be seen to," she gestured a couple of her pack members to the side of Master Secura who was quickly swept into the arms of a stronger male and whisked from the room, "The youngling will be in the care of Milana, my old friend. She cares for all of our children and will guard her well."

With reluctance Ahsoka was torn away from Obiwan and the woman by a couple of careful women who were quick to carry her away to Force-knew-where.

"And as for the rest of you, my friends will see that you are fed and taken care of. Rest this night and tomorrow you will depart. For your sake, I hope that the cursed akul have had enough food from hunts this night and pay no mind to your presence. I fear that this is as far as my help will go for you."

And with that they were led away without another word, the alpha turning on her heel to head back up the steps where she sat down, gazing at the old tome that her friend had brought her from the city not six or seven hours earlier. Carefully grasping it in her hands she turned it over before flipping through the age-old pages, the hand-written text faded and worn staring back at her. They finally flowed to a stop at an old marking, the ancient dead-language unreadable to her – all unreadable but one word.

"Gods help them," she whispered brokenly, bowing her head with a sad breath, "Whatever Grace has been given to me, pass it to them and spare them this fate."

A shaking hand traced over the ancient text weakly, her mind reading out the one word that most feared more than anything.

'_Endrati_.'

**IOIOIOIOI**

Okey-day, there ya go. Hope you guys enjoyed it at least a little bit. Please read and review and be my hero forever (as always, don't even plan on flaming me)!

**Translations**

Embi!- Quiet! (pronounced 'Em-bee')

Ai savi?- Who are you? (pronounced 'eye sahvee')

Ahna cora situei ne gruena? – Are you our friends or enemies? (pronounced 'ah-na core-ah sit-oo-ae nay groonah')

Nayui situei – We are (your) friends. (pronounced 'n-eye-oo-ee sit-oo-ae')

Viece Jedi – We are Jedi (pronounced 'vy-eh-see Jedi')

Nala. Niemshe. – Enough. With haste. (pronounced 'nah-lah. Neem-shay')

Agaiya. Amout aseiya. – Up (with them). They come with us now. (pronounced 'A-guy-ah. A-mote ah-sigh-ya')

Daibu – Leave (or 'be gone'). (pronounced 'die-boo')

And no, there is no straight translation for Ogari – I didn't want to put 'sun' because that's what we have. So I called it Ogari. And I don't want to translate the last word in the story yet. That would mess up the plot.


	6. Zero Understanding

Here we go, ladies and gents! This chapter kinda took a life of its own and kept growing and growing…. And growing…and ggrrroooowwwwinnnggg…You get the idea. It was originally supposed to just be what I call a 'bridge' chapter but it ended up being much more than that. I hope you enjoy it!

Summary: See previous installments.

Disclaimer: Lalalalalala…. Wish I owned it, but I don't. Easy as that.

Well, since it's the day after my birthday…it would make me sssooooooooooo happy if those of you who are awesome but not epic (i.e. have read these chapters but haven't left a review) would be so kind as to write me two sentences of feedback. After the days I've had here recently, it would mean the world. And of course thank you ever-so-much to those of you who have and continue to review. I really do appreciate it. If I could hand you a million dollars (or whatever currency you use in your respective homelands) I would.

As always: no flames, enjoy the chapter, and feel free to PM me any time.

Love,

~Eliana

**IOIOIOIOIOI**

It was the excruciating loud scream-like trilling of the Togrutans' flyers that had driven Anakin and his former Master from their warm, comfortable, inviting beds and out into the freezing cold morning air that stabbed through the small village of Agava that night – and with the ever-present reminders that the Force had abandoned them brought a feeling with it that Anakin hadn't felt in years: fear. Oh sure, he had been worried and on-edge and worked-up and fidgety… but fear was a very foreign feeling that the Jedi felt that he could truly do without. Now he found himself in his meager clothing and boots on a wooden balcony, weak human eyes searching and weeding through the night's darkness in the distance to try and make out what danger had approached. His request had been denied when he asked to stay with his padawan and it was by force that Obiwan had dragged him to their room… and now here they were, suspended in the dark searching for some thing that they couldn't see and that probably wanted to maul them into little bits.

"What is it?" he asked out of human habit to his friend, forgetting for a moment that Obiwan could see no better than he himself could.

Before the elder even opened his mouth to reply, both men snapped their heads in the direction of a Togrutan's voice. The archer was hidden in the trees with another of her clan (the same young woman from before, Obiwan guessed at glimpsing the bow – she was the only archer that he had seen in the little village), both of them grumbling quietly to one another as she trained her arrow off into the dark. Unlike the human Jedi they could see in the dark and they could plainly make out what was hunting them.

"Aiso… nomo careersai akul en mema…" they could here from the woman who leaned forward a bit as if she were going to leap from the tree onto whatever was drawing near.

"Did you hear that?" Obiwan asked Anakin as he looked back to his former apprentice; eyes alight with what his friend could only gather as disbelief, "Akul."

A loud growl followed by a roar sent the shrieks of the flyers into the night air again, ripping what should have been peaceful quiet into shards of terror and desperation for life. Both Jedi stared of in the general direction, neither moving so much as a fraction of an inch when Master Unduli came to stand next to them. She placed her hands on the sanded rail as well and let out a breath that quickly turned into a foggy mist once it passed her lips. They were out of their element – they had no weapons, no use of the Force, no extra speed, and the planet itself had turned fully against them with the now-present predator(s) (how many there were, they weren't sure) and Master Secura's infected leg. They had been informed by the village's doctor that the infection ran deep but it was a relatively minor strain. The Twi'lek Jedi had put up no complaints when the man had been done cleaning out the wound to fall asleep, making her fellow Jedi swear that they would wake her as soon as something major happened.

Whether or not this counted, none of the three were sure, but the only real comfort they could take was that both Aayla and Ahsoka were housed in two separate areas behind them, nestled safely further up in the trees near the heavily-guarded area of the clan's home. The padawan had fallen asleep not long after she had been taken by the other Togrutans (or so they were being told) and yet to return to the waking world – but in most of their minds that meant that she must've been getting the rest that she so desperately needed.

She wasn't the only one who had been lacking rest among the party but she was the most obvious – Anakin was pretty sure that Obiwan looked as though he was going to keel over at any moment. The wisps of their breaths fogged the air in front of them and made the young Jedi truly yearn for his early hours… at least he had learned one thing from this situation: whoever had said "You don't know what you have until it's gone" should have been awarded a few million credits for finding a universal truth. Under normal circumstances he would have found himself collecting the light wisps of water and transforming them into odd shapes of animals and machines. Now when he waved his hand he got nothing but a slight resistance of oxygen in return. He settled himself in for a very long, monotonous, Obiwan-filled waiting period.

Another hour of vigilance yielded no other sounds or sighting of the akul that had come close to the town, so Obiwan and his fellow Jedi allowed the tense breaths that they had been holding escape them with relief. The creatures (so the alpha told them later once she returned with her guards from chasing the creatures off) had come close to the village a number of times before but had rarely been so daring as to actually try and slaughter the Togrutans' animals. One young man had been attacked by one of the beasts, but quick reactions by the alpha and her party had spared the teen's life and had apparently mortally wounded the creature who still managed to run off with its companions. A search was to be done later in the morning in order to find the body of the carnivore and use its remains.

By the time this news reached the ears of the Republic Jedi, Ogari had once again began to spread His welcomed arms across the sky. The red glow of His warmth reached through the trees with little delay of time, bringing the darkness back to light and sent the Togrutans scurrying about, gathering items of differing sizes and moving toward the area stricken from the attack. Anakin, Obiwan, and Luminara were fully armored again within moments of the star's rising and were traveling down the wooden bridge-like structure that had them fully on the ground in a few minutes' time. Several times Anakin found himself startled by the blatant lack of…well… anything he felt in his find.

He couldn't find the Living Force, the familiar tug of his young padawan, the comforting form of his old Master – for Force's sake, he couldn't even feel Padme! This wasn't a situation that he liked at all and anything that Anakin Skywalker didn't like usually didn't live long. Just saying out of context, he convinced himself.

The alpha of the Togrutan village (Jaana they had learned from a younger guard who spoke Common) met them at the lowest point of the wooden bridge once they reached it, the look on her face showing obvious signs of anger and wear from the previous hours. In her hand she held a similar bow to the one the Jedi had seen with the younger woman before, but she gave no indication that she even held it as she gestured for them to follow her. It was Anakin who bit the bullet first.

"My lady, may I ask a question?"

"Indeed you already have but you may certainly ask another," was his reply and, when the woman wasn't looking, he puffed out his cheeks in a familiar pout that he had used every time Obiwan had made a smart-ass comment when his apprentice was a child.

"My padawan always said that the Togrutans hunt with their hands and their teeth…why do you have bows and arrows and spears?"

Jaana gave a humorless chuckle in response, swinging the arm that held the bow a bit.

"It is quite simple, really," she told him as she glanced back to look him in the eyes, expertly dodging roots and rocks with her bare feet, "While we have been blessed with speed and strength and teeth, we cannot always rely on our own selves to be our sole providers. This great land has blessed us with the wood and stone we need to make weapons and so we will indeed use that to our advantage. Such is the nature of things – those who are able to change and be one with their world are those who are to survive."

Feeling this was ample explanation she turned back around, leading them around a slight bend of the path in between a few trees.

"Umm… okay?" Anakin slowly sounded out in confusion.

"She is simply saying that nature has granted them the gift of knowledge on how to make weapons, as well as the materials they need to do so. They provide extra protection against things like the akul. Correct, m'lady?" Obiwan tried to clarify, getting a short: "Indeed" in return.

"So why didn't she just say so?"

"She did," Master Unduli responded behind him and he held up a hand.

"Nevermind. It's too early for this."

"I was under the assumption that Jedi always rise with the sun," Jaana told him cheekily and stopped when Anakin did, looking back at him.

The young Jedi looked from her to Obiwan, back again, the gestured between the two with a look of absolute bewilderment on his face.

"Were you two separated at birth?" he asked seriously, earning a laugh from the alpha and a disciplining look from his old master.

"I should hope not," was the alpha's response as she began walking again, "Unless your friend wishes to inform me that I have a long-lost sibling and that my family tree is a lie."

"You must forgive my former padawan, my lady," Obiwan apologized, shooting another look at the younger man, "He must have hit his head whenever we crashed and the heat must have helped it along – I'm afraid he's not thinking clearly."

"Inehdu," she told him as they reached a clearing, "I am understanding of situations such as these. Think nothing of it."

As Anakin opened his mouth to respond to the comment he was forced to let out a sudden yell as a massive body was suddenly upon him, granite-grey wings flapping strongly enough to make him lose his footing and hit the ground. Whatever it was stood tall over those who were still standing, two of its legs slashing and clawing at the air while the others keeping the large body upright as they remained firmly planted on the ground. Several shouts, clinking of chains, and a few sharp cracks of whips had the creature back on four legs a moment later, five Togrutan handlers wrestling with the chains around his densely feathered head and neck. The creature gave a loud trill of anger and began to back away due to the tugging, coal-grey head swinging back and forth in anger. The four-legged bird creature stood, at his shoulder, higher than his handlers' chests and the menacing looking daggers on his feet didn't do much to bode well to the Jedi.

"Are you alright, Anakin?" Obiwan asked as he and Master Unduli pulled him back to his feet, unconsciously checking him over for wounds.

"What is that?" the man demanded toward the alpha instead, getting a look of mirth in return from her as she looked at him.

"That is one of your rides," she told him, "As to what he is, he is a Mesanon. We call him Cero."

"'Zero'?" Obiwan translated and received a nod, "Why Zero?"

"Because Master Jedi, that is how many have ridden him successfully before," another voice answered from behind him and they all turned to the approaching Togrutan woman.

She looked different from the others in that her skin color was a dark pink color rather than the characteristics shades of red and her headtails were curiously secured behind her head via a piece of fine leather.

"This is Keaira," Jaana introduced as the young woman bowed, the light-colored furs strewn about her shoulders moving slightly in the breeze, "She is our handler of our animals and the best rider we have. She will be escorting you to Corvala and then return here – as was our deal."

Her voice changed slightly as she spoke and it told Obiwan one thing: a deal was a deal – and this woman hardly seemed to be the understanding type when it came to broken promises.

"It is an honor to meet you," he told the young trainer as he, Luminara, and Anakin bowed (if his luck held out then none of them would notice his slight wince) and as he stood straight, he addressed Jaana by saying, "M'Lady, Jedi would never go back on their word. We will see to it that your animals and your friend are returned to you safely. I swear to you on the name of the Jedi Order."

"I will hold you to that, Master Jedi," he was warned with a quirked brow before the Togrutan leader turned and gestured to the other flyers who stood calmly on the other end of the field away from Zero and his handlers, "Keaira, I assume that these animals are ready?"

"Indeed, My Lady," was the humble reply of the younger Togrutan who led the way toward the calmer animals, "None of them gave us a fight. Counting Cero there are four in all – it should be enough to get us to Corvala by mid-evening without any…umm…"

She paused in her speaking and leaned against one of the animals who gave a trill and tossed her head in excitement, the large wings trying to unfold but held fast to her sides by the harness.

"What is the word?" Keaira asked out loud, looking to the sky as she thought, "Umm… as you would say: 'Without any unforeseen difficulties'. Yeah?"

She looked to the Jedi to be sure that what she had just said made sense to them and, at their nods, pushed herself off of the Mesanon's side and pointed at each four-legged bird individually.

"This is Sulfea, Rionon, and Tsafuro," she told them respectfully, starting with the closest animal and moving away, "They are easier to handle that Cero – I will try my best to get him under control."

A loud shout had them looking back to the others struggling with the grey beast just as one Togrutan went airborne, flying over their heads and landing with a dull thud in the turu-grass not far from them. Keaira winced when the four pairs of eyes looked back to her and she gave a sheepish grin.

"I have…much work ahead," she admitted, "We must be able to leave within one hour – one way or another."

"If I may ask – why one hour?" Unduli inquired from where she stood observing the animals tethered to the post.

"The longer Ogari rises in the sky the closer it gets to the storms," Keaira explained, pointing toward the hills that stood in the distance (hills – Anakin himself personally believed they looked more like grassy mountains), "The winds are treacherous during the day and it is hard for these animals to fight them. With luck the trip should take around eight hours but the storms will change that if we wait."

"Then the sooner the better. Just get us Ahsoka and Master Secura and we can head out," Anakin reasoned.

"I'm afraid that is not possible at the moment," Jaana told him clearly, ignoring his blatantly aggravated look before explaining, "The youngling needs as much rest as we can give her and your Jedi friend must have her wounds treated once more if she is to survive the trip over the badlands. You will leave as soon as these tasks are complete."

Her voice left no room for argument and she turned to the young trainer who was dismissed with a nod of her head. The younger Togrutan disappeared with a small woosh of air and went toward where Zero was playing his own game of bowling with Togrutan bowling pins, trying to call order to the fraying group as she approached. With a sigh Anakin turned, feeling defeated, to look at the alpha. Her gaze softened slightly at the despondent look and she glanced to the sky for a moment before she spoke to him.

"Child," she addressed him and gained his attention, meeting her warm gaze, "If it will mean that much to you… you may go see your child. I'm sure she would love to see you."

It was a shaky smile that thanked her for her consideration and she nodded her head to him a bit, watching him through studying eyes carefully before she addressed the other two that stood with them.

"You two should go check on your Jedi friend. She is in a building not far from your child – I will show you."

And with that she led them back away from the curious Mesanons and the struggling handlers trying to deal with Zero and toward the direction from which they had originally come from. Several of the Togrutans they saw on the way quickly bowed their heads and stepped back away from the alphas path, some of them shooting some not-so-welcoming looks toward the Jedi visitors. If the three noticed it they said nothing and gave no sign, all of them keen on following the alpha's 'beaten path' through the small village and up the wooden bridge next to the one they had used earlier. It gave a few creaks and groans of complaint at the added weight but held fast, swaying ever-so-slightly in the breeze that suddenly rushed through the leave of the trees above and around it.

Three entrances were passed by before Jaana gestured for them to halt in front of a covered entrance at the end of one of the suspended walkways.

"Give me a moment to speak to Milana," she told them, "She does not understand your language and she is rather protective of those who she has been ordered to protect."

At their nods she slipped through the brown and white furs suspended in the doorway, disappearing into the room without much of a sound following her. Obiwan took his chance to address his former padawan quietly – even without Anakin's presence in his mind his heart ached with every beat that the younger's took and it was eating him alive.

"We are doing our best, Anakin," he told the man, taking in the scarred face with scrutiny. To anyone else the Jedi Knight was composed and calm but to his old master, he was a nervous wreck that was about to fall apart at the seams, "We will do all that we can to get Ahsoka to help in time."

"And what if we can't?" came the question out of Anakin's mouth without his permission, his arms folding in front of him as his brow furrowed in thought, "If anyone should suffer through this it's me, not her – if the Force has any honor it'll take me instead. I'll make any bargain I have to-"

"Anakin," Obiwan called to him forcefully, grabbing the strong shoulders in his hands and staring into his eyes, "Listen to me. There is not a day or night that an honorable master wouldn't trade his life for his student's – or some honest captain of an army his life for his commander or general. But there is no bargain… what _is_ is what _must be_."

"It is simply the will of the Force that we are all here now," Master Unduli spoke quietly, not unsure of what to say but quite uncertain of how to say it, "We will do all that we can… but if Ahsoka is for the Force, then she must go – with us or without."

"But why this way?" the youngest began to slightly raise his voice though it never reached above a hoarse whisper, "She is sad and scared and in so much pain – if the Force takes her from me I'll never forgive it!"

A shadow crossed over the young face and Anakin's features hardened, non-existent age lines making themselves prominent on his face and his eyes darkened. It took a violent shake from Obiwan to snap him out of his thoughts and he uncrossed his arms, reached out to stop his old mentor from shaking him anymore.

"Anakin, control yourself!"

"I'm fine," he whispered as he caught his breath, shaking his head and sending his already-disheveled hair flying into his eyes, "Sorry – I don't – I'm not sure – I think the lack of the Force is getting to me…"

"As it is to all of us," Luminara told him carefully, watching him, "but you must calm yourself. Padawan Tano needs you to be strong now."

Whatever Anakin was going to say to her as his old master's hands fell from his shoulders was halted by the reappearance of Jaana from the small room, her face set in a stoic look as she approached the group. With a soft hand to his clothed shoulder she silently pointed Anakin toward the doorway, shaking her head and preventing the other Jedi from following him as he left.

"The child asked for him only," she told them as she steered them away and walked them further down the wooden walk, "He must go alone."

The small room was surprisingly warm when Anakin entered and the older Togrutan from the night before greeted him with a small bow, leading him over to a smaller doorway that was blocked by a fur coat. When she pulled it aside and gestured for him to enter, he slightly hesitated before doing so and almost fell over out of joy for what he saw. Ahsoka, as pale and sickly as she looked, was sitting up and was leaning back against some of the quilted blankets behind her. She was fingering a furry stuffed animal in her lap with surprising curiosity and looked up when he entered, her face contorting into what Anakin could only guess was a mix of fear, joy, pain, and the pure gaze of an upset child. He was across the expanse of the room and embracing her in the matter of two strides, getting to his knees to be closer to her on the wooden floor. She made a sound in them back of her throat and tried to return his hug, only managing to pat his side weakly as her arms refused to listen to her. When he pulled back she was surprised to see the look on his face.

"Hey there, Snips," he greeted fondly as he situated himself to fully sit on the ground next to her, keeping her held close to his warmer body with the aid of a strong arm wrapped around her and her blankets, "It's good to see ya."

She was trembling unconsciously under his grip but managed to find the strength to present the stuffed animal to him, letting him grab it and move it onto his lap with his free hand. The little stuffed canine's grey fur was incredibly soft and warm, the sewn-on glassy eyes a soft blue. It was perfect.

"He's really cute," Ahsoka's master whispered to her, grabbing the little stuffed wolf-like creature by its back and making it hop around, "Does he have a name?"

Ahsoka's head shook weakly and she leaned against him, slightly giggling under her breath when Anakin made the toy jump on her and dance a bit. He made it rub on her arm and then slightly against her face before returning it to her lap, watching her weakly poke and bop at it.

"I think he likes you, Snips," he told her, overjoyed that she was being as playful as she was even as out of character as she seemed, "Maybe you should keep him."

He let her grab the toy back and watched her hug it to herself, her montrals making it hard to see her face and she rested her head under his chin. He was trying to stay as collected as possible for her and rubbed her arm with his hand, praying to whatever was listening that he wasn't hurting her instead of helping her. When she started to quiver even more violently than before her master grew concerned and as he opened his mouth to speak, he was surprised that she spoke first.

"I'm sorry, Master," she hoarsely whispered out, voice cracking with pain and un-use.

The joy of hearing her voice was washed away by worry and he shifted his weight again, leaning back so she could fully bear her weight on him as he tried to grasp the right words to say.

"What're you sorry for, Ahsoka?" he asked back, finding himself more and more unable to hide the tears in his voice.

"Because I'm scared…" his padawan told him after a minute and, though he couldn't see it, he knew that she had tears running down her face and into the fuzzy toy she held in her arms as she drew her aching legs up to curl in on herself.

With a shuddering gulp and a quickly crumbling resolve Anakin gathered her in both of his arms rested his chin on the top of her skull, whispering to her the truth that he couldn't bear to tell anyone else.

"You know what, Snips?" he questioned and brought his head down more so his left cheek was pressed against her cold forehead, "That's okay… because I'm scared too."

All Jedi training and resolve was tossed to the wind as he began to quietly cry too, both his and his padawan's grief and fear falling almost silently into the soft fur of the animal that sat cradled in Ahsoka's arms.

**IOIOIOIOIOI**

Translations:

"Aiso… nomo careersai akul en mema…" – "Holy (God)… I have never seen the akul so close to here…" (pronounced: 'Aye-so… noh-moh career-sigh akul in me-mah…')

Cero – Zero (as in the actual number. Pronounced: 'Say-row')

Jaana – loosely translated as 'voice of many' (pronounced: 'Ja-ah-na')

Keaira – loosely translated as 'precious daughter' (pronounced: 'Kay– ae-rah')

Sulfea, Rionon, Tsafuro – translated to 'sky dancer', 'big wings', and 'gold one' respectfully (pronounced: 'Soul-fay-ah', 'Rio-known', and 'Sah-fuh-row'.)

Milana – translated as 'best mother' (pronounced 'Me-lah-nah')

Alrighty – all done. Hope you all enjoydaed it and hope to see some kind of review.

~Eliana


	7. Lighting Wisdom

Da-da-da-da! Here's a new chapter for you guys! Sorry it took so long… if I could explain half of the stuff that happened in the past two weeks without writing a massive novel, I would (don't get me wrong – I REALLY want to write a book one day but my skill level isn't quite there yet, I'm afraid).

Summary: See previous installments, please.

Disclaimer: The OCs in this story, the hospital, the animals, and the plot are mine. _Nothing else_. PLEASE do not use any of them or repost this story anywhere else or use the words within this story for your own purposes – if you'd like to repost it somewhere, ask permission. I work hard on this and it's my creation. Please treat it and me with respect.

Warning: From this point on, the story gets a little more graphic – chapter by chapter. There are mentions of blood, pain, needles, medical procedures, and other things that may disturb some readers. Please don't read this if those things bother you.

Okay, a few quick notes: Once again, the small amount of info I can find on Togrutans has come up a little short for my ideas. For the purposes of this story, I have made one small anatomical adaptation that others may not see as true. My Togrutans use both their montrals and small ear holes (located behind the front head tail on all of them) to hear. Basic sounds that we humans can interpret (bangs, crashes – any sound that uses waves of sound within a certain frequency) are heard via the ears. Others in lower or higher frequencies are gathered and interpreted by the montrals.

Second: While the Star Wars universe has a different medical technology limit that we do, it's a personal belief in my mind that the medical droids can only do so much. Because of this I have made the doctors, assistants, and nurses living creatures. The droids would do jobs like basic medical check-ups, minor surgeries, and other things that are well-documented within the medical society there. Obviously Ahsoka and the other padawan (who you'll meet later) have different situations.

….okay. I think that just about covers everything. If you see any odd mistakes, please let me know. I'm using my ex-father's laptop (don't ask about that title, please) and it likes to jump the cursor around for some odd reason. I think I caught all of the mistakes, but I could be wrong.

Oh yeah, one more thing before I shut up and leave you alone: to my lovely reviewer (sorry – too lazy to go see exactly who it was now) – kudos to you and brownie points too for noticing the Watership Down line in the previous chapter. I'm trying to add those in every now and then and it's good to know that someone caught it!

Well, enjoy, read, review, stay healthy, and feel free to PM or email me any time. I would enjoy the conversation. As always: no flames, constructive criticism welcomed.

Enjoy all,

~Eliana

**IOIOIOIOIOI**

"So what exactly is the issue again?" Anakin asked from where he stood next to a large-sized boulder, his wrapped-up padawan held closely to him as he observed the other Togrutan move the flyer's wing.

Three hours into their journey the woman had forced them all to halt, landing the group in a small, tree-covered section of ground and had immediately ordered them to dismount. It was a task to get Ahsoka and Anakin down from their animal seeing as only one had motor control and the creature hardly seemed to be happy carrying the weight of the two on his back. Disgruntled, Tsafuro knelt down on his front knees and allowed them easier access to the solid earth before he stood again, shaking his gold-colored head as if to say: "Two-leggeds" in a not-so-happy tone of voice.

Secura and Luminara were able to dismount Rionon without much difficulty and he stood as still as he could for them, not quite able to hide the entirety of his relief of having the weight removed from his back. Sulfea squeaked when Obiwan slid off her back quickly followed by Keaira. Under instruction the Jedi held tightly onto the reins that came from the animal's mouth, trying to use whatever strength he had to hold the animal still as the handler pulled and manipulated her large left wing. The flyer was obviously not happy and gave a grunt, picking the front of her body as far off the ground as she could with Obiwan's restraint before throwing her weight back down, kicking up a cloud of dust beneath her taloned feet. The more Keaira searched her wing the more unhappy the young animal became and soon she was shifting from one side to the other, trying to toss her head and stamp her feet and flap her wings as she released several angry-sounding trills. Zero (who stood a decent distance away – or as far as the chain he was attached to would allow- and who had taken a rather intelligent spot under one of the shady trees) started to toss his head in agreement and let out several loud barks, pulling on the chains that he was attached to as if he were trying to break free. He was, as of this moment anyway, just holding packs of supplies and wasn't really enthusiastic about staying there. The other two flyers looked at them, looked at each other, let out two identical huffs of breath, shook their heads, and just stood relaxed in their spots.

Keaira let out a string of Togruti curses a few minutes later as she finished…whatever it was that she had been doing, taking the reigns from Obiwan and taking the only female Mesanon over to a tree and tethering her there. It was then that the Jedi settled themselves in.

Obiwan eased himself against a large tree stump that had probably come into being from its tree growing old and falling by the hand of gravity. Luminara aided the still heavily limping Secura next to him and both of them sat down with soft sighs; silently giving gratifications to the ground that they sat on that it was not the back of a Mesanon. Anakin had already sat his bundle on top of a boulder and let her lean weakly onto him. She still had her stuffed canine and held fast to it, the fuzzy little thing's body completely hidden within the blankets (all except for one small ear that poked up and covered Ahsoka's nose almost like a small, protective blanket). To Anakin's surprise the other Jedi hadn't said anything about it and let her keep it without question (it was incredibly against Jedi code to have such things – a Jedi may only possess what he needs to keep himself alive, connected to the Force, and able to help those who asked). So apparently they did have hearts, he muttered to himself sourly.

He settled himself by whispering to Ahsoka about whatever he could think of, overly joyful and feeling eternally in debt to whatever deity or holy thing had brought her the strength to actually acknowledge him. She hadn't said much since their time alone that morning but she had shown her younger side right before they had left – never before had Anakin known his padawan to throw a fit like that when she was almost forced to ride with Obiwan. The elder human conceded to her unspoken demands and handed her to Anakin – for whom she was suddenly dead quiet and still, drawing a giddy grin out of the young man. If it wasn't so 'unbecomth of a Jedi' he would have puffed out his cheeks and blown a raspberry at his old maser who stood still, looking bewildered.

While everyone else had at least paid attention to the situation, Zero was the obvious exception. He was restrained to the point that he actually had to cooperate and that was hardly his plan or his chosen course of action if he had been able to make the call himself. This particular animal had obviously made it his mission to eat anyone who dared to try and ride him so Keaira gave him that one demand, labeling him strictly as a carrier of supplies and nothing else.

The flight itself wasn't really difficult once they finally got off the ground with the riders still on (Master Luminara quickly learned that holding onto the reins and the harness of these creatures was a pretty good idea). The Mesanons were very smooth in the air and, besides the slight movement from the flapping wings and the roaring wind in their faces, it felt to Anakin as though he were flying in a ship. Ahsoka was rather calm and was content to nap against her master who sat behind her, his arm secured firmly around her as the wind rushed around them.

When she gave a sudden huff of breath against him and shifted painfully Anakin paused in his remembrance, moving her back slightly so he could look at her face and was worried when he saw how scrunched up and twisted it was. They were losing valuable time – precious time that ticked away by the second and drew ever closer to the end of Ahsoka's story. It was then that Anakin questioned the Mesanon trainer and got an answer that he didn't want to hear.

"She has wounded her wing," Keaira told him glumly as she leaned her weight forward onto the wounded creature, burying her head against the strong, feathered neck, "I didn't see the wound last night and this trip has… she cannot go the rest of the way."

"What do you propose we do?" Obiwan asked her, stopping Anakin from saying what he felt like saying.

"You will have to continue without me-"

"No way!" the young Jedi Knight exclaimed, startling his pain-filled apprentice who gave a startled jump, "We need you! You can't- I mean we-"

"Must continue on," she shot back at him sharply, "Every one of these animals is a priceless part of my village and it cannot exist without them. With us out here causing this disturbance with the Mesanon it is only a matter of time before we attract the-"

Every head save one snapped up at the menacing growl that ripped through the air, all of the flyers trilling and throwing their heads about as they began to pace with fear. Keaira was moving without warning and was suddenly next to Anakin and his protected padawan, yanking him to his feet and shoving him toward Rionon.

"Rionon is fastest – get out of here now!" she commanded him as she rushed back to the other Jedi who had gotten to their feet and were looking around nervously, forcing them toward Tsafuro.

"What do we do?" Anakin called to her as he finally hefted himself into the saddle behind the completely limp and lifeless Ahsoka, grabbing onto her and securing both of them in the leather saddle.

"Ride to the north – follow Ogari's shadow!" she yelled to him as she sprinted over, grabbing Rionon's reins and pulling the animal toward the opening in the trees even as he fought against her at the sound of the akul that drew nearer, "There is no time to explain – go now!"

With that she released the reins and ran behind the flyer, giving him a sharp smack on the hind quarters. Rionon let out a loud trill as he reared back, Anakin releasing a surprised yell when he landed back on all four feet and sprinted toward the clearing before Rionon spread his massive wings, getting off the ground with an enormous flap that kicked up dust and sand in its wake. They cleared the trees with a few strong wing beats and quickly covered air distance at a speed that was hardly comparable to any living animal.

"We have to go back for them," the Knight called to the animal who squawked in response to the order, tossing his head and tugging the reigns as he sped away from the tree grove and closer and closer to the city of Corvala.

They had to go now if Ahsoka was going to make it – they had to go now if they wanted her to make it through the next few hours. Rionon may have barely had a brain the size of a decent peach, but even he understood the exact problems that they were trying to fix.

For the first time in his life that he would ever be willing to admit, Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker truly felt his heart tear in two separate directions. Yet when Ahsoka bore her full weight back against him as her body trembled and shook without her permission, all of his uncertainty leapt away faster than the toads of Naboo jumped out of hot water. There was no guessing game involved here… as much as it would shock himself to say it aloud, Anakin Skywalker would chose Ahsoka's life over the lives of the Jedi on the high counsel – even over his old Master and friend Obiwan.

If he could get a beat-up old spice trader to Tatooine through hyperspace, by the Force he could get them where they needed to go on the back of this animal, he told himself tersely after a moment of steeling himself. With a sudden surge of confidence he leaned forward in the saddle, grabbed hold of the powerful neck of Rionon, and dug his heels into the animal's sides, calling at the top of his lungs in the first language that came to mind for the flyer to show his best. His response was a burst of speed and the steel colored wings folded in, whistling wind whipping over the feathers with a mad fury as they sped over the land below them.

How long could they go at this speed, Anakin found himself wondering after a while of the speedy soaring as he glanced behind them to try and catch a glimpse of anyone that could possibly be approaching. All that met his sight were clouds and small atoms of oxygen. The actual sky itself had transcended from the calming blue to an angry shade of orange, red, and dark grey near the land – without consciously being away of it the Jedi was suddenly smiling at the serenity of it all up here. If ever there was a time that the Living Force was at its strongest, it had to be up here. Small flying animals occasionally zipped by them as the Mesanon and riders frantically pedaled past, several of them letting out squeaks and squawks of surprise when the predator blew past them and sent them reeling.

A couple of instances during their journey Anakin's mind jumped back to his Master and the other Jedi – had the akul gotten to them? Were they alright? How long would it be until he could find out? Without use of the Force he was blinded and weak, not even able to sense any potential threats that could loom near. Several times he tried to call out to Obiwan – even to Ahsoka who sat cold and shaking against him, only to get no response. It shocked and mortified him how quickly her condition had gone down hill since they had taken off again… where he once had hope that she was regaining strength and would soon be strong again had been replaced with a feeling of deep sorrow and pain. He would be damned if he let her die now. He couldn't accept -

A loud breath escaped his lungs when his mount suddenly dropped a few feet of altitude before catching himself, the strong wings appearing to shake as they flapped at his sides. It was then the Anakin noticed the way the flyer was breathing – in large, hoarse, painful-sounding gulps of air that made him suddenly aware of how hard Rionon had to have been pushing himself to get his two riders to safety. The speed the animal had achieved for the time it had taken for them to get this far (it had to have been well over another hour) blew the Jedi's mind and he decided that he had asked too much. But as he began to lean back to tighten the lead reigns they passed out of a large bit of cloud cover, revealing below them what Anakin had swore he was afraid that they would never find. In the midst of several groups of luscious trees, flourishing ponds, white and red turu-grass, and several large areas of sheet rock stood a white marvel that proudly presented herself to him. The red cross displayed on the top of a building on the shore of one of the lakes marked his destination and he let out a happy yell toward the shadow of the dying Ogari.

Rionon trumpeted his response and pulled a surprised, not so dignified yelp from the Jedi Knight when he folded his massive wings to his side, dive-bombing toward the hospital. The loud screaming of wind at its massive sting in his eyes had Anakin shutting them tightly, gripping Ahsoka harder as they all dropped altitude. Both Jedis' bodies lurched forward violently when the four legs of Rionon hit the ground and he began to run to try and slow himself to a calmer speed. Only after the animal completely folded his wings to his sides and began to walk slowly around did Anakin open his tearing eyes, reaching over to pat his mount on the neck as the Mesanon huffed and coughed loudly around the bit and stumbled badly in his steps.

Their destination stood to their side from where the flyer had landed. Out of the glass doors quickly came Togrutans and humans alike, many calling and shouting to the new-comers as they crossed the distance of ground between the white-walled sanctuary and the huffing animal that stood trembling in the shade of a Reuka tree. One female Togrutan grabbed the reigns of the exhausted mount, speaking soothingly to the animal as Anakin and Ahsoka were carefully pulled off of him, lightening the load on the weary back. The grass was cool to Anakin's booted feet and he unconsciously sighed in relief as he gathered Ahsoka to him, not allowing these people to touch her before he knew who they were. A great number of hands reached out and herded him and his load toward the doors to the hospital, almost succeeding on getting him inside when he turned back at the concerned voices from the courtyard they had just come from. It only took one glance to find out what had them all alarmed.

Rionon was no longer on his feet but was instead laying flat on his side on top of the cool ground, one granite colored wing wrapped around him as his stomach rose and fell shakily with each exhausted breath that he drew in. Some people had stayed back and were either stroking his head, rubbing his neck, or running toward a small creek in the background to try and bring some water to him. One male Togrutan drew the Jedi's attention as he steered the human back toward the hospital.

"There is no time," he told the Jedi apologetically as they walked, "For us to get you to where you need to go I must know what is wrong and who you are."

The doors were held open for them by a couple of men dressed in scrubs. The cool air from the inside of the hospital blew toward them with gentle caresses so different from the whipping winds of the sky, the softer air here smelling of disinfectants and sterile clothes. A large number of people sat in a waiting area and after a second it hit Anakin as to why they were all here – either by sheer dumb luck or by the will of the Holy Force Rionon had brought them straight to the emergency entrance of the building.

"My name is Anakin Skywalker," Anakin told him after a second of fighting to find his voice due to the hours of endless wind in his face, "And this is my padawan, Ahsoka Tano."

Recognition flashed on the red face near his and the other man reached out to move a few of the blankets away from Ahsoka so he could see her paling face.

"You are the ones Master Yoda told us of," he clarified and, at Anakin's breathless nod, he turned his head and began swiftly ordering the other people in Togruti. They all scattered after a moment and his attention returned to the Jedi as he pulled him through a crowd of people toward a set of elevator doors, "We must get you upstairs quickly – to Doctor Tocarra Meneias."

They both walked into the elevator and the Togrutan hit the right button, the automatic doors sliding shut and the device lurching to life. Ahsoka gave an upset cough and slight whimper, drawing a slight smile from the elder Togrutan who gave her a gentle smile as he gazed at her through her blankets.

"It's going to be okay," he spoke to her in a calming baritone, "We are going to get you help."

Giving her a final smile he turned his gaze back up to her Master, addressing him again as the elevator lurched and the doors opened once more to give them access to the floor.

"We've been waiting for you for almost two days. What delayed your arrival?" the medical assistant questioned him as he put an arm around the Jedi and steered him out of the elevator toward a certain area of the hall.

A few patients walked past with nurses at their sides and some smaller children were gathered in a far corner where a red-skinned man sat, obviously telling a very animated story and drawing several giggles and laughs from his charges who sat cross-legged on the floor. They were in a pediatric wing, Anakin noted after a second, but the blatant lack of joyful things told him that this had to be an emergency hospital – and that these children were all under intensive care. Those children in the corner must've been the luckier ones. With a shake of his head Anakin remembered the question he had been asked and finally replied.

"It's a pretty long story," Anakin told him, stopping when he was asked to.

"Tocarra!" the man next to him called out suddenly and a female Togrutan looked up from where she had been reading something on a disc, the white doctor's coat and stethoscope around her neck obviously pointing out that this was the doctor they were looking for.

Her skin was a shade darker than the man next to Anakin but paler than Ahsoka at the height of her health, the white birth marks standing out proudly on her skin. Wise brown eyes absorbed the scene before her in a matter of milliseconds.

She wasted no time in shoving the disc in her pocket and sprinting over to them, putting on hand on Ahsoka's back and one on a cloth-covered arm.

"This is Ahsoka?" she questioned both of them quickly and, at Anakin's nod and before he could speak, she began pulling all of them down the hall.

"Quickly," she urged them as they half-jogged down a separate wing through two large sets of double doors, passing four to five doors before entering one of the doors to the right.

With a slap to the control on the wall by the doctor the lights came on, revealing a white bedside table, a TV in the top corner of the room, a large number of medical cabinets, a small fridge on one of the sterile counter tops, a door on the back right hand wall, and a medical bed with a small mattress and short, four or five-inch high plastic walls around it. The window at the far end of the room let in a darkening rays of Ogari, dying the room a warm orange color as it reflected off the linoleum tile floors and the spotless counter tops.

"Put her there," she ordered Anakin as she gestured to the bed before turning to the other Togrutan, "Go get Eddy and anyone else you can find. Tell them to bring a drawing kit and sterile items for testing."

He urgently nodded.

"Go," she told him one more time before he sprinted out of the room and down the white linoleum hall, his shoes clicking loudly on the floor as he flew away.

The doctor turned back to the two further in the room and calmly walked across the distance to them, stopping to the right-hand side of the medical bed before addressing Anakin.

"My name is Tocarra Meneias," she told him and shook his offered hand before slowly undoing the blankets that held Ahsoka close, "I'm going to be Ahsoka's doctor while she's here. I've got to get my assistant in here so we can get her tested before I start any kind of treatment-"

"What are you talking about?" Anakin suddenly explained and the doctor halted momentarily to meet his eyes, "You can't treat her right now?"

"We need to be sure that she's suffering from the thing that we believe she has. If it just so happens that she has a different disease – the Plague, leukemia, any kind of auto-immune disorder – and I try to treat her for something that she doesn't have, it'll kill her," she told him rather calmly before she started to pull the blankets away again, "My job is to see that she makes it out of this place alive."

Ahsoka coughed again, blinking blearily up at the Togrutan woman from her cocoon. The woman spared her a smile and pulled away the first large blanket, setting it on the ground next to her before working on the next one.

"Hello there, child," she greeted the tired-looking face, trying to comfort the younger as much as she could just by looking at her, "Your name is Ahsoka, right?"

"…yeh….yes," came the hoarse, whispered reply that Anakin rewarded with a calming stroke of her head once it was unwrapped.

"Well it's nice to meet you, Ahsoka. My name is Tocarra – no 'miss' title there. I may be old, but I'm not _that_ old yet."

The soft joke did its job and Ahsoka let out a breathy giggle, her full body shivering when the last blanket was finally pulled off and was tossed haphazardly to the floor. Tocarra busied herself with an instrument above the child's head before she noticed the shivering.

"Now Ahsoka," she addressed the padawan, "From this point on I have to know what you're feeling so I can try and make it better."

"C-cold," she managed to grind out, trembling violently without the added warmth that the multiple layers of covers provided.

"You're cold?" the woman clarified as she reached over her patient's bed to grab an instrument. At Ahsoka's nod she pulled the wired thermometer out of its case that was mounted on the wall, stuck one of the protective covers over its end, and brought it to her patient's mouth. "Open up for me," she coaxed calmly and Ahsoka did just that, letting the piece of plastic slide under her tongue before weakly closing her mouth around the foreign thing.

The pale eyelids slid over the tired irises as they waited for a moment. Finally the thermometer beeped and the doctor pulled it back out of Ahsoka's mouth, reading the number it gave with a slight huff of breath.

"Well it's no wonder you're feeling cold," she told Ahsoka calmly, not giving any hint as to what the readout was before she shot the plastic cover into a rubbish bin and replaced the device where it belonged, "As soon as I get everything done we'll try and warm you up."

Just as her Master opened his mouth to ask a set of running feet drew both his and the woman's attention to the door as another Togrutan barreled through, his cloth-coated arms holding several things that were all foreign to Anakin's mind. The visitor quickly approached and set out the items on the table next to the doctor as she introduced him.

"Ahsoka, Master…Skywalker?" she clarified and received a nod, "this is Edsunyahqueyesa – we call him Eddy for short because that's a massive tongue twister. He's my assistant and he'll be helping me out with Ahsoka and her treatment. Eddy?" she called to get his attention and he joined her beside the bed, "This is Master Skywalker and Ahsoka."

"It's an honor," the friendly Togrutan man spoke, reaching a strong hand over to shake Anakin's own before addressing the shivering girl who lay atop the white mattress on the bed, "as it is to meet you as well, young Miss Ahsoka," he told her kindly, finding himself quickly defying the unspoken rule and getting attached to the child.

Even for a girl as young as Ahsoka this man was fairly attractive. He had a well-arranged face, darker skin than the doctor, and very elaborate white birthmarks on his face that looked like the had been deliberately painted by a master artist.

"Now Master Skywalker," Tocarra spoke and drew the human's attention away from the kind man and toward her, "We have been getting calls from the Jedi Counsel asking where you were. We can't provide them with that information and they demanded that they speak to you personally when you arrived. Down this hall the way you came we passed a large office. Go in there and tell them who you are and they will let you call out to your superiors on Coruscant."

"I'm not leaving her," Anakin found himself telling her blatantly, almost as if he was daring her to try and get him to leave.

"I can't tell you what's best for you right now. All I know is that the longer we stand here arguing the less time we have to try and combat this illness and prevent it from getting worse. Eddy and I have to run some diagnostic tests on Ahsoka and the fewer people who are in here the better off she'll be. I know this is difficult but you have to trust us now."

Whatever retort the Jedi had prepared to speak only came out as a small burst of air that slipped past his lips before his jaw clamped tightly shut and he released a frustrated sigh, looking through weary eyes at Ahsoka who still had her own eyes shut. With the beginning twinges of a headache nearing Anakin finally bowed to someone else's will, reaching to put on hand on his apprentice's forehead before addressing the other two.

"Take care of her," he almost pleaded and got two reassuring smiles in return.

"We will do nothing less," Tocarra promised and watched with sad eyes as the Jedi rubbed his thumb one more time over his padawan's head before swiftly leaving the room without another word. Ahsoka had opened her eyes and painfully craned her head to stare after him, only pulling her gaze away again when Tocarra spoke to her.

"He'll be alright," she told the girl, not moving when Eddy walked around the bed to the other side, "He's still young and seeing you like this obviously has him upset. If we give him space, he'll come round."

That did little to quell the uneasiness that settled deep within Ahsoka's stomach – but when Eddy reached out a calm, warm, strong hand and took her own, she felt (at the moment at least) protected. Tocarra took it as a sign to move on and turned to the bedside table, pulling out the drawer to reveal a box of sterile gloves that she quickly swiped two from and pulled on. Shutting the drawer again she began to sift through the things that her assistant had brought with him while simultaneously speaking to the young girl lying on the bed.

"I have to make sure what's wrong with you before I can treat you for anything," she began calmly, removing a plastic cylinder and two tubes from the pile, "In order for me to do that I'm going to have to draw some of your blood. I'll be as quick as I can."

Setting the selected items on the bed next to the prone form she also retrieved from the drawer a sealed alcohol wipe that she opened readily, reaching over and adjusting Ahsoka's right arm before she began to calmly scrub. Without looking up at her patient's face she continued.

"Now Eddy has your hand – and he's not going to let go."

As if in testament the warm hand encasing her own frozen one tightened slightly.

"I want you to look at him and focus on his face, alright? Don't look over here at what I'm doing."

With that she tossed the used alcohol wipe away and retrieved a sterile cotton ball, setting it on the bed. She grabbed a tourniquet band from the pile of supplies on the table and tied it tightly over the pale arm, trying her hardest to avoid the obviously painful sores that stood out an angry red color on the sickly tan skin. When it had been tied down tightly enough and she was able to find the vein in the crook of Ahsoka's arm she retrieved the sterile syringe and the specialized head, snapping them together before glancing up at her patient's face.

"Look at Eddy now, child," she ordered and waited for Ahsoka to do so before popping the cap off of the hypodermic needle, grasping the slim forearm carefully, and slipping the needle under the skin and into the target vein.

In her mind she could hear her assistant's voice but couldn't quite distinguish what he was saying as she skillfully pulled back the plunger of the syringe, filling it with red blood before popping it off, setting it back in its sterile casing, and grabbing one of the tubes. Soon enough both tubes were filled and set aside, allowing the doctor to grasp the cotton ball and place it over the needle before pulling it out of her patient's arm, tossing the used steel piece into a sharps container mounted on the wall above the bedside table. Another hand took the place of her own pressing down on the cotton ball and she gave her thanks to Eddy before untying the tourniquet and tossing it aside. She gathered the filled containers in a careful hand.

"I'm going to take these all down to the lab – I'll be right back," she swore before she was out of the room in a flash, leaving the other two alone.

For a long moment the man said nothing, simply choosing to fish around in his coat pocket before pulling out a bandage had only its sterile back on. He strapped it over the cotton ball and tossed the white plastic in one of the many miniature rubbish bins before finally giving Ahsoka a warm smile, squeezing her hand.

"See? I held your hand the whole time," he told her with a slight grin, "Just like we promised. You were very brave – nothing I wouldn't expect from a Jedi."

"I… t-try," was the sheepish reply that earned her a laugh from the man who finally released her hand, walking around the bed.

He stopped short for a second as he gazed at something on the floor, tilting his head slightly and the dark cerulean irises danced with curiosity. Before Ahsoka could question him on what was so interesting he bent over to retrieve something from the floor and when he stood up he held the stuffed canine in his hands. She hadn't even realized the little animal and herself had gotten separated until that moment and suddenly yearned to hold it again.

"Is this little guy yours?" He asked Ahsoka kindly and when she nodded weakly he put the furry animal at her side on the inside of her arm, "Well then, he's gonna sit right there while I work."

He scratched the furry head of the stuffed animal and lightly tapped Ahsoka's nose when she let out a weak giggle, content in watching him retrieve a small blood pressure cuff and a stethoscope from the wall, wrapping her arm in the small cuff before slipping the ends of the stethoscope over and into the small ear holes behind his first head tails on either side of his head.

Slipping the cool metal disc under the black cuff he pumped it up, watching the numbers on the gauge while listening to the faint heartbeats through the stethoscope feet. After a few seconds he released the rest of the pressure, removing the stethoscope from her arm and his ears and removing the cuff. Ahsoka remained pliable and just blinked at him blearily through half-lidded eyes as he replaced the items to their rightful places and entered some information on a data pad that she hadn't noticed on the bedside table.

It was a sudden feeling that came over Ahsoka as she watched him calmly enter information into the data pad and sort through the things he had brought – it was the familiar tightening of her throat, drop of her stomach, and burning behind her eyes that she had fought so hard against for the past few days around the Jedi. This man seemed so open and warm and caring and she couldn't help but start to let those held-back emotions rise to the surface and start to seep out of her eyes in the form of tears.

She was cold and nauseous and exhausted and weak and in pain and – there were so many words that she knew in several different languages but she found herself at a loss when she tried to find the exact ones that would describe how she felt. In any other situation she would have found Eddy's surprise at finding her suddenly dissolved into tears, but from where she was laying now it only served to make her more upset when he was swiftly moving across the room and back. Clutched in one hand were a couple of white tissues that he chose not to use yet. Instead he slipped one arm under her weak, pliant body and brought her to him slightly, just enough to support her with one arm while the other guided his hand to calmly wipe away the few tears that leaked silently from her eyes.

Whatever words he whispered were lost to her when she felt the calming vibrations he released from the bottom of his lungs – an unconscious trigger in all Togrutans when they were either content or found themselves in situations like this one. It took little time for her to calm down again and whisper a thank you to him to which he gave her an understanding smile, grabbing the little stuffed animal that had been shifted away moments earlier and placing him back into her arms.

"I'll tell you like I tell my other little Jedi," he whispered to her, "So long as you're within these walls you are no longer under that Counsel's jurisdiction – you're under ours and in no way do we believe that emotions are bad. You're going through a lot and releasing some of that pressure will do nothing but help in the long run."

He turned his head footsteps approached, Tocarra appearing in the doorway with a look of either sadness or weariness (it was hard to tell with her, Ahsoka told herself through her own weary mind). Eddy only took one glance and understood – he knew what she was going to say before she even said it.

"I sent the vials to Tox and Zebben in the lab," she told Eddy, "but I looked at a blood smear myself. I quadruple checked it – even had Mani look at it."

Scared blue eyes jumped between the two elder Togrutans, trying to make sense of what they were saying.

"It's conclusive?" Eddy questioned, only to sigh when she responded.

"More than conclusive… it's set in stone. Ahsoka has Endrati."

**IOIOIOIOIOI**

There we go! Hope you liked it – please review! Even two or three words change my whole day and help me forget the heck that my life is (once again: too long to explain).

Translations

Edsunyahqueyesa – literally translates to 'love and the light' (pronounced 'Ed-soon-ya-kay-yay-sa'). Obviously his mama felt he was born with potential – imagine learning that name in kindergarten.

Tocarra – translates to 'with wisdom' (pronounced 'toe-car-ah').


	8. Healing Rain

Here we are, ladies and gents: the eighth chapter in the longest story I've ever written!

Before I write anything else I have to say a few things:

In response to a review, just know that the word 'Endrati' will be explained in more detail later on. It's gonna be in there, I promise.

Thank you so much to everyone who's reviewed thus far. It really does make my day when I see those reviews popping up in my email.

Since you all actually appear to read this (another good thing, I promise), thank you all so much for the well-wishes and everything else. Heaven willing the hard times will end soon and I can get back into a better point of existence. That hasn't been the case thus far but… well, Deo volente (God willing). But every word you all say to me keeps me going and I truly do appreciate it.

Summary: See previous installments, please.

Disclaimer: The OCs in this story, the hospital, the animals, and the plot are mine. _Nothing else_. PLEASE do not use any of them or repost this story anywhere else or use the words within this story for your own purposes – if you'd like to repost it somewhere, ask permission. I work hard on this and it's my creation. Please treat it and me with respect (this paragraph will be copied to each chapter – it's here for a reason).

Warning: This chapter has medical proceedings, as will almost all of them for the rest of the story. I have medical training, but only to the level of high first-aid. Nothing I write here should be used in any real-life situation and a lot of things have been modified to suit my purposes so they don't always follow the book.

Remember that I take Togrutan anatomy into account with a lot of this. Quite a bit is made up and used for my means and might not quite agree with what Mr. Lucas says about them (I can't find a whole lot of info anyway, so there).

I edited that one thing from the last chapter but of course, me being me, I corrected it on my copy and saved it but never changed it online. Meh. I'm gonna replace the file when I put this one up.

Well, enjoy everyone and PLEASE review – even three words change my day in ways you can't imagine. As always, feel free to PM or email me at any point in time. I can use the conversation.

Yours,

~Eliana

**IOIOIOIOIOI**

There exists a thing in every individual's life called pain tolerance –plainly defined in the many articles of the Jedi Archives as the strict, non-negotiable maximum level of pain one person can endure. Simply put, every person has their own tolerance level for the total amount of pain they could see themselves dealing with…from the tiny poke of a needle to their arm being ripped off their body; some could handle it more than others. Being who she was, Ahsoka Tano believed that this thing called 'pain tolerance' could be viewed as a wall in the mind – it was hard to climb over, and on the other side existed nothing but an unfathomable drop into a pit of sweltering darkness that ultimately led to the point of no return. Jedi had much higher pain tolerances than most (as anyone would when they were trained to exhaustion both mentally and physically almost on a daily basis). Part of their belief system had one unspoken, unquestionable belief: no one could push a Jedi up the side of the mental wall called pain tolerance and toward that void of nothingness and oblivion unless the sufferer allowed it.

…that's where the problem was. Ahsoka hadn't been forced to climb that wall or been pushed up its side without mental permission. She had been chucked (almost literally) straight over it.

Sitting in a cold, porcelain tub in the small adjacent refresher to the room she had been placed in earlier, she found herself floating precariously over the blackened void in her mind as the men and women worked around her, dressed in their scrubs and gloves and masks. When they had first started she had found the mind to complain through huffs and slight whimpers at the fact that she was naked in front of so many people but that had quickly changed when they started their routine, taking a removable showerhead down from the wall and spraying room-temperature water over the open or swollen sores that covered her shivering body. She had wanted to ask when she had a voice why it was that they only used luke-warm water when she was freezing, but Eddy (who was on his knees to the right of the tub where he held her head and upper body steady) seemed to catch the unspoken query and answered her with:

"We can't warm you up too fast – your skin needs to be heated gradually. Hot water would only hurt you more and none of us want that."

They may not have wanted her to be in any more pain – well, honesty being held highest, Ahsoka didn't quite believe that there was a pain higher than the ones she was suffering right now. The intensity of the burning and stabbing and stinging completely overwhelmed her and she just lay still against the man beside her, opening and closing her mouth like a gaping fish out of water while he tried to speak calmly to her – he strove to reassure her that it would end soon and that the pain would get better. None of the words ever made it into her head.

It would have confused anyone who walked in more than her to know that before they even brought her in here they had trimmed her nails down, down to the point where only inconsequential scraps of white could be seen above tan skin. A plastic tie had been slipped into her mouth over her tongue and had been strapped beneath her chin tightly enough to hold the appendage stationary (annoyingly she found that it made it almost impossible to move her lips back over her teeth) and she had begun to wonder what on Coruscant it was for – until Eddy returned in the clothes that he was wearing now. The obviously partially-healed cuts and scratches on his arms told the story of what she could only assume was either an attack or an accident caused by a similar situation and they wanted to take no chances. She couldn't blame them. Since she had gotten herself into the habit of being honest, she admitted to herself that she had felt like clawing and biting at these people the entire time they had been in here – something in her mind screamed at her to tear them apart and make them pay for the pain they were causing. The trimmed-back nails on her hands prevented her from causing them any harm in terms of clawing and this plastic tie over her tongue actually stopped her from moving her lips enough to even show her teeth. Biting was out of the question. For doctors, these guys were actually pretty quick to the draw – she had to give them that.

Tocarra and several nurses had what looked like an arsenal of tools with them that they had set up on either side of the tub and, once they shut the water off, Ahsoka found out what they were for. The one that had a sharp hypodermic needle on the end was to poke into the swollen welts and the oozing liquid from inside was drawn out painfully slowly by the plunger on its end. There was another that looked almost like a mathematical compass (thank Obiwan for that one – Force knows that the man used so many random things in his daily life) that a nurse would use after Tocarra drained the puss out of the swollen skin, using the two sharp ends to peel off the now-loose flesh above the empty swelling and expose painfully new skin and bodily tissue to the bite of oxygen.

The last (oh – if the Separatists ever got wind of it they were sure to get whatever information they wanted from their prisoners) was a thing of horror – a wicked thing that Ahsoka's mind couldn't even describe… and the agony it caused was worse. The already-opened wounds on her body were rubbed open by this thing, this… torture device that three people were using all over her body to rub already-raw skin off of her and expose a black goo that resided underneath the pockets of pain. Some of them swabbed at it and place it somewhere that she didn't have the mind to see because of her discomfort. She knew that they were taking samples, but she couldn't quite grasp why they had to do this to her while she was awake. It would have been so much easier on all of them if she had been unconscious.

Many times Ahsoka had dealt with wounded troopers on the battlefield. Many times she had dragged them to safety under the deadly rain of fire and blaster bolts and explosives. Many times she had watched their brothers inject them with chemicals to put them under while their injuries were dealt with. She wished she could be that lucky.

This had been a totally unexpected event on her part; something that happened relatively quickly after Tocarra had returned and told Eddy that sentence that made no sense to the child. The first that the padawan could remember after that specific instance began with what the woman told her after some nurses walked quietly into the room, some slinking off into the refresher with armfuls of things and another joining Eddy next to her bed. Not a second later the doctor had taken a breath, gathered herself, and walked over to talk with her face-to-face.

"I'm sorry child," she had told the slightly shaking girl, "The first thing we have to do is get these sores cleaned up so we can cut the risks of infection out – the easiest way is going to be in a shower. This is going to be a painful thing to go through but Eddy and I will not leave you."

As if for proof the man in question had placed his warm hand against her bony temple, the deep rumbling that his lungs making the girl close her eyes in acceptance of the oncoming trial. The newest person (a rather thin Togrutan man that Tocarra had introduced as Donavan) had given her a careful, toothless smile when she glanced at him finally. She had almost found herself smiling back at him but had halted herself at the doctor's next orders for the other two to leave and get changed into different scrubs. They silently did as they were told and returned not five minutes later in light-blue, almost plastic clothing. While they had been gone Tocarra trimmed the child's nails, offering no real explanation (well…it was fair considering that Ahsoka never really asked) as to why she was doing it and had tied the girl's tongue down quickly with the plastic piece before her helpers returned. A slight pull of skin marked the disappearance of the taped-down cotton ball on the crook of her arm. The white coat the doctor wore was taken off and strewn on a counter as the woman traveled back to the door, firmly locking it and pulling the small shade down over the multi-layered glass to block outside view into the room. She joined her helpers not long after.

The three shared a look and, without so much as a glance at the face of the weary girl, began to pull on gloves from the cabinet and some white surgical masks from a drawer not far from the bed. Looking like something out of a horror movie they all calmly returned to the bedside, silently pulling away the stuffed canine and setting him on the counter while they began to peel off the few layers of cloth that protected the shaking body of Ahsoka Tano. She had reacted in the way most would, trying to bring her arms up to guard herself and to protect whatever dignity she had from these people, but it was a simple matter of three on one, no harm meant, and the absolute lack of energy she possessed. With a resigned sigh she had eventually let them do as they pleased and felt the cloth disappear as her eyes shut, allowing her to miss the embarrassment of being seen naked by the doctor and nurses (including those who had come back in from the 'fresher to pull on their own gloves and masks).

In all actuality it was an over-reaction on her part – she was a child in a pediatric wing of a hospital, covered in sores and welts from neck to toe. They were medical personnel who saw bodies ever day and who were all at least twice her age. But whose mind can comprehend everything at once? Even Jedi have limits.

With a gesture from Tocarra Eddy had reached over the plastic wall and slid his arms under her and easily scooped her up, holding the pale, cold, shaking, naked girl to his chest as all of them walked into the refresher. He had been aided in lowering his charge into the tub by several of the other Togrutans before he sat on his knees beside her outside the tub, using a strong arm to keep her mostly upright as the doctor turned had on the water, letting it hit the bottom of the bathtub and roll into the drain. When it was a sufficient temperature she had pulled the removable showerhead from the wall and switched the water flow over so that the device in her hand came to life. This was obviously not a bathtub for someone to take a shower alone in, Ahsoka had noted rather dryly to herself when she had gotten the strength to glance around.

"Alright now, Ahsoka," Tocarra had addressed her then, gesturing for her assistant to hold their patient up a little more to which he had complied, "I'm going to rinse you off before we do anything else, alright? You do whatever you need to do – we'll be as quick as we can."

Her only reply had been a nervous gulp and the tight sealing of the padawan's eyes – she forced herself to start before she couldn't find the heart anymore. Tocarra had moved and started to rinse off the dust-covered lekku and let the water roll down the poor girl's back, immediately causing her patient to tense full-bodied (to which the other nurses immediately reached in and lightly put their hands on the cold limbs to keep her still) and Ahsoka used what little strength she had to clench her hands into fists in an effort to remain quiet. The disgusting dark tinge that coated the padawan's head had eventually lightened and several pairs of careful hands had begun to guide the stream elsewhere, rinsing out the yellow, white, and green puss from the wounds that covered seemingly every inch of the thin body. It was then that the searing pain took over Ahsoka's senses and she could do nothing but weakly clench her fists and bobble against the warm arm that belonged to Eddy. The entire time he had held her steady, supporting her, whispering to her, but in all honesty she didn't hear a single utterance of it. The pain took up all of her mind.

A sharp yelp was torn from her lips and immediately all six voices answered her as she was unexpectedly ripped from her memories, the small instruments stopping their work and soothing hands touched her sore skin as if trying to ease her ride in the wave of pain that had suddenly rocked her. They were almost done with what they were doing – Tocarra only had one major welt left and it was obviously the most painful one. Ahsoka had been compliant and had let them do her back, buttocks, thighs, stomach, chest, arms, and everywhere else without so much as a twitch but the obviously angry-looking sore on her left knee was enough to break her out of the reverie.

Eddy was murmuring to her as comfortingly as he could, offering her just as much praise as the rest of them when she finally relaxed again. Tocarra took it as a sign to hurry and finish so she did, ignoring the pain-filled protests of the girl as she drew out the dark yellow puss before pulling out the needle from the sore flesh, allowing the others to do their jobs as she picked up the showerhead again and turned the water back on. She heard Eddy warn Ahsoka to brace herself and the weak whimper in reply before the water hit the young body again. Somehow the padawan found the strength in her to create a death-grip on her supporter's arm and arch her body as her mouth flew open to scream – only to get no sound. All four of the others kept to their tasks and grabbed hold of the thin body, keeping her well within the tub as the dark red/black water flowed from the pale-fleshed skeleton down into the drain. Ahsoka relaxed after a minute or two, finding herself devoid of strength more now than she had been before.

She realized (and did so with a bit of a start) that now she was actually starting to feel a little better – sure this now stung and her body seemed to burn as though it were boiling water not room-temperature, but the agony of the sores before was gone and she felt a million times less pain. Under this artificial rain there was searing discomfort…but there was also healing.

Donavan (aided by some of the other silent people on the outside of the tub) collected some clear liquid on their hands, wet them under the gentle spray of the water, rubbed both hands together until the gel foamed, and then set about rubbing down the sore skin. The strange substance bubbled when it contacted the raw flesh but instead of bringing pain, the hissing foam actually seemed to numb the frayed nerves and put Ahsoka more at ease – so of course it drew no complaint from her when she was slowly turned over and the back half of her body was rubbed down. The now slightly-warmer water rinsed away all evidence of the browning foam from her skin and she suddenly felt so much more… clean, less contaminated.

Not noticing the water shut off she twitched a bit when she was lifted out of the tub onto some cloths, being quickly and efficiently toweled down until the only liquid on the outside of her body were little bubbles of red blood. Many pairs of gloved hands, slick with some kind of ointment, gently rubbed down her skin, coating the open wounds with it and forcing the blood underneath to clot quickly against the new barrier. When they were sure that the bleeding on her front had stopped Eddy scooped her up again, holding her flat against his chest with both arms as he stood while the others efficiently coated the back half of her body with the quickly-absorbed gel as well. Soon enough she found herself in a speckled blue and white hospital gown suspended in Eddy's strong arms, her head flopping weakly onto his shoulder as he walked her back into the room, all the while talking to her in a warm baritone that she couldn't understand but took solace in.

She was laid back down on the mattress. With a surprised half-jump she realized that it had somehow gotten another layer of padding on it that supported her much more and that was softer against her sore skin. A larger number of pillows cushioned her head and she felt herself relax against to silken sheet under her, eying the warm covers that had been pulled back and currently lay at the foot of the bed.

Tocarra was murmuring something above her that she didn't comprehend and not a second later her pale hand was held in the doctor's own gloved one, its twin rubbing down the skin over a vein with a new alcohol pad that had suddenly appeared. The used pad was handed to Donavan and before Ahsoka could watch the rest a gloved hand clamped down over her eyes, blocking her view of the IV needle being pushed into her skin via the doctor's skilled fingers. After it was securely gauzed over and taped down Ahsoka could hear the woman cross to the other side of the bed and, soon after, another needle pierced her skin and was secured down on her hand and arm before the blindfolding hand lifted. Eddy gave her a warm smile in return for her look, feigning an innocent glance at the silent accusation before a couple of loud snaps drew their attention back to Tocarra as she threw her soiled gloves away. When she removed her mask the others did as well, much to Ahsoka's relief. She sent a weak glare to the scary-looking things that were set on the counter-top.

"Alright," the doctor stated from where she had crossed to a sink and was washing her hands in white soap, "Let's get this young lady hooked up, gentlemen."

"You got it, boss," Eddy told her, following her lead as he and Donavan stripped off their own used gloves and washed their hands.

When they were dried again all three pulled on new, clean gloves and began digging through cabinets and drawers, pulling out multiple wires and contraptions that Ahsoka couldn't recognize before returning to the bedside, plugging them into the monitors that sat powered-off on either side and above the cot. Eddy had started humming some random tune as he went along and sorted out the wires, slowing and deepening the pitch of it every time that he got confused and speeding into an upbeat tone when he was successful in turning the machines on and getting them to function correctly. Ahsoka couldn't help but breathily giggle at him and he heard her, using the situation to try and lighten her mood.

"I see how it is, make fun of me," he joked with her, "My tone-deaf-ness is a serious issue, I'll have you know and I'm quite sensitive about it."

Donavan slung one arm around his neck from behind, pulling him back a little bit before he added his two-cents.

"Your tone-deaf-ness causes us all pain and I'm quite sure that young Ahsoka doesn't want to hear all about your issues."

"Boys, I don't want to know about either of your issues," Tocarra told them from across the room as she helped one of the nurses with some of the things from the refresher without ever turning to them, her tone sounding almost like that of a mother scolding her sons.

"Yes ma'am," both of the men responded with a pair of identical winces, Eddy noticing Ahsoka's silent laugh at their sudden sheepishness in the wake of Tocarra's warning.

"She's scary when she's mad," he whispered to her lowly.

"Terrifying," Donavan clarified over Eddy's shoulder as he released his grip on his friend and grabbing onto the plastic sealed whatever-it-was that he held, both he and Eddy jumping back into work when the woman approached again.

"Alright now, you two," she playfully poked at them, "If you don't behave I'm gonna have you separated."

She planted her white gloved hands on her hips underneath the long coat she wore, leaning slightly forward with both of her eyes staring them down.

"Is that what you want? You want to be separated?"

"He started it," was the quick response by her assistant who pointed at a gaping Donaven who puffed his cheeks out.

"You see what I get to work with?" Tocarra questioned Ahsoka, grateful to see a ghost of a smile make it onto the shivering lips, "It's like I work with toddlers."

"Well technically as a pediatrician –" Eddy started only to get popped on the head by a piece of plastic wrapping from Donavan, effectively stopping him cold before he dug himself a deeper hole, "Right. Shutting up now," he quickly corrected himself and finished sorting out the wires he held.

"Tocarra, do you want her on the lead line or a digit clip?" he asked suddenly, looking up at the female doctor who had begun entering things onto a data pad she had retrieved from one of the nurses.

She was quiet for a moment as she pondered his question before answering:

"Did you ever solve the glitch with the other digit clip?"

"No ma'am."

"Then it's probably best to hook her up on a lead line. We're gonna put her on the wireless thermometer," she told Donavan who had shot her a questioning look before continuing, "I don't want to risk a shut down of the system. Lead line."

With his question answered he resumed his soft humming and he returned to his job with a nod, slipping a confident hand underneath the front of Ahsoka's loose hospital gown before passing the little discs at the end of the wires down, fastening them onto the cold skin of her chest. When all three were fastened down he removed his hand, hitting a couple keys on the machine to his right after he hooked up the wires and nodding when a heart monitor began to beep in tandem to the thrumming of the young heart.

"Alright now, Ahsoka," Tocarra called to her when she stood on the opposite side of the bed, holding onto the plastic wall, "I need you to trust us. Can you do that?"

A faint flicker of uncertainty lit up the big cerulean eyes before it faded, Ahsoka giving a shaky nod to the woman since she didn't quite trust her voice.

"We have to keep track of your core temperature – it's far too big of a hassle for us to have to manually take your temperature every ten minutes to keep it in a normal range. Instead, Donavan is going to put a small thermometer inside of you – it's small and it won't hurt, I promise," she was quick to reassure at the look of fear she got, "You need to trust us, alright? There is nothing to fear here."

"He does this a lot," Eddy chimed in, "There are a lot of patients who need it. It'll be quick, alright?"

Ahsoka just gave a defeated sigh and a half nod, letting her head reach back against the cushioning pillows behind her head.

"You just relax and let him do what he needs to do," the man told her over the background sounds that she tried to block out, "Keep your eyes closed and sit still for us now."

She let his voice, so much like her Master's, lead her and forced herself to only focus on him, not the terrifying (but surprisingly gentle and calm) foreign touch underneath the hospital gown that she had been forced to wear. Not a second later she heard a trill from one of the machines next to her and the hand retreated, Tocarra's voice taking dominance over Eddy's.

"And that's that. Could you go get the warmth pads please, Ed?"

"Yes'm," his voice answered and he sauntered somewhere away from the bed.

"Donavan, would you go make sure Lloyd has everything set up in there?"

Ahsoka heard another affirmative answer and cracked her tired eyes open, meeting the other blue ones above her that sent warmth straight into her soul.

"You see? Not so bad," the woman told her brightly, "Donavan's got to change it out every day but now we can keep track of how warm you are."

She pointed across the bed to one of the monitors above the heart machine and Ahsoka's eyes slowly followed the silent instruction, the cerulean irises almost popping out of her head in surprise when she saw the reading.

**94.3**◦F – any normal body temperature for her kind was supposed to be well around if not above one hundred. A warm hand lightly touched her arm and she looked back to the doctor who sought to give her what reassurance she could.

"It's low now but we're going to try and get it back up," she told her patient with a smile, barely avoiding laughing when the child looked eagerly at the small heating pads her assistant returned with, "Yes, you know what these are, huh?"

Tocarra moved her hand and helped her assistant turn on a couple of the wireless devices, rubbing them with gloved hands to make sure the entire thing was warm before she and Eddy carefully packed them in strategic spots around Ahsoka's body – one on either side of her stomach, one on top of her chest, and the other right on top of her abdomen. They drew the covers up from the foot of the bed and adjusted the IV lines before she was tucked in tightly.

"Eddy?" Donavan's voice asked suddenly from the other side of the bed where he had seemingly teleported.

"Yeah bud?"

"What's this?"

Too tired to look at what he held herself, the padawan contented her mind to just watch Eddy as he slowly grinned at what his friend held.

"That's hers," he told him and watched the paler man move closer to the bed.

In his hands he held the little canine, the fur suddenly cleaner looking and more pristine than it had been before – it must have been vacuumed cleaned in the wake of all the chaos, Ahsoka determined. The gloveless hands (when Donavan had taken off his gloves she wasn't quite sure) were deeply entrenched in the soft fur.

"Is it now?" Donavan asked no one in particular as he planted the fluffy toy under the covers into the nook between Ahsoka's left arm and her body before readjusting the covers, "Does he have a name?"

She shook her head weakly, pulling her arm closer to herself so that the fur was pressed tightly against her skin. The added warmth from the heating pads and the blankets were starting to put her to sleep (the cold still ran deep enough to freeze her bones but the tightening in her stomach had finally ceased for the first time in days).

"You should name him," Eddy told her, "But until you do, I'll just call him Fuzzy."

"'Fuzzy'?" Tocarra asked him incredulously, "really?"

"Would you rather me call him 'the little stuffed animal that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere?'"

"Too long."

"My point exactly."

They were quiet for a second and even through half-lidded eyes Ahsoka knew they were all gazing at her but couldn't find the strength to protest. After a moment she heard Tocarra sigh and two pairs of gloves snapped off of two separate pairs of hands, the woman's voice quickly following the sound.

"Can you two finish here?"

"Of course," Donavan's soft tenor voice answered.

"I need to go make sure her older Jedi friend isn't causing a scene. We'll start her treatment sometime tomorrow after she gets a good night's rest."

"Alright," Eddy told her from where he stood near the side of the bed, "We'll take care of the rest of this here. You know where to find me if you need me."

"Always do," was the response and with a final warm look at her quickly-drowsing patient she strode to the door, unlocked and opened it, locked it behind her, and shut it once more.

A sharp snip of cold scissors popped the plastic tongue tie and it was pulled from her mouth, but Ahsoka hardly seemed to care about it. With a huff of breath her body fully relaxed and, under the careful gazes of Donavan and Eddy, she fell into the best sleep she had had in days.

**IOIOIOIOI**

There we go – hope you liked it! As always, please let me know if you see any mistakes because this laptop's a butt and likes to put them in there and not tell me.

Please read and review!


	9. Drowning Horror

And here we have the ninth installment of this story – and this is one of the ones I have been looking forward to writing ever since I thought up the story (I'm pretty sure most of you who have ever written anything kind of… 'plan it out' ahead of time like I do – and being so there have undoubtedly been moments like that for you too). This is by no means a happy chapter but a lot of things happen in here that are incredibly significant to the rest of the story, so read closely!

Thanks once again to all of my wonderful reviewers (and yes, even the smart-alecks). I wanted to point something out: I remembered after reading my reviews that I never mentioned this before – I write Obi-Wan as Obiwan because it reads the same on search engines and it gives me a bit of short-hand in writing the story. Also, I've read my fair share of Star Wars fics and this is the rule I use for capitalization of padawan and master: if it's referring to the actual person in replacement of their name, it's capitalized. If it's a title, it's capitalized. If it's just referring to the person who carries that title, it's not. …think of it as an odd proper noun. Just read over things a bit and it'll make sense.

Summary: See previous installments, please.

Disclaimer: The OCs in this story, the hospital, the animals, and the plot are mine. _Nothing else_. PLEASE do not use any of them or repost this story anywhere else or use the words within this story for your own purposes – if you'd like to repost it somewhere, ask permission. I work hard on this and it's my creation. Please treat it and me with respect.

Warning: This chapter has depictions of violence, neglect, and several other themes that may bother some people. Please read at your own discretion.

A new character is introduced in this chapter who will share the spotlight with Ahsoka, so be sure to get kind of familiar with him.

_Flashbacks are written in italics._

And I also wanted to apologize to everyone: I have no right to complain about how my life is, regardless of how bad it gets. There's always someone worse off and it only goes to show that people can only deal with problems for oh so long.

Anywho, enjoy the chapter and please review!

Happy reading,

~Eliana

**IOIOIOIOIOI**

A last smile at her sleepy-looking patient was all Tocarra managed before she unlocked the door and slipped out into the hall, being sure to shut it firmly behind her so that no prying eyes could see into the small area. A glance around told her that no one else who cared enough to be a bother was near and, quite satisfied with that, she sauntered off down the hall and back toward the medical office at the front of the floor. Almost an hour and a half told the story of the events just passed and it showed when she passed by the now-empty reading corner, the darkened space now devoid of the joyful laughter that Donavan had drawn from the younglings earlier.

Her echoing footsteps were met with another sound just past the office doors and entered casually, one white eyebrow arching as she looked at the Jedi. Master Skywalker leaves – one Jedi – and somehow manages to multiply himself into four. All of them were disheveled looking with robes in a mess, rips and tears marring the once-pristine fabric that lay over the wearily held up bodies. None of them seemed to notice her presence through their conversation until Anakin glanced her way and immediately zipped over to her as fast as though he were able to fly.

"How's Ahsoka? Is she alright? Have you found out what's wrong? What are you-"

He stopped short when she held up a hand in request for silence, allowing the other Jedi to walk over to them before starting her explanation.

"She's fine – a little tired and sore, but she's fine. We went through a process similar to debridement not too long ago to ease her pain and I suspect that she's sleeping now."

"Debridement?" came the obvious question from the girl's master and Tocarra had to strongly fight against the urge to roll her eyes. For people who had a huge library at their exposal they obviously didn't know much.

"Debridement usually happens after a person is burned severely – the dead flesh is removed and covered with a gel-based, absorbable cadaver skin. It cuts the risk of infection and fluid loss down," she explained as she finally lowered her hand back to her side, "And to answer one of your other questions: yes, we know what's wrong with her an we're going to do all we can to prevent it from getting worse."

"I apologize if I'm interrupting you," another human spoke, ginger hair sticking out oddly as if it had been blown away from his face by a strong wind. He realized his forgetfulness a second later and offered her his hand which she shook, "Obiwan Kenobi. I apologize – we just finished speaking to our High Counsel and they now know that all of us including Ahsoka," he stated the last bit a little firmer as he glanced at the younger human who stood next to him, "are safe. However they request to know if you have any information regarding our other padawan."

"Other padawan?" Tocarra questioned, almost as if she were testing him for his knowledge before admitting to anything.

"Yes," one of the other guests spoke (she quickly introduced herself as Luminara Unduli to the doctor and the Togrutan quickly picked up on the pattern of their interrogation), "another Jedi padawan and his Master were sent here not long ago and we haven't heard from them since. They haven't kept contact and we fear for their safety."

With a huff of breath they found themselves under her scrutinizing eyes for a long moment before she spoke again, her words slow and deliberate as she carefully chose what to say as the icy blue irises shot straight into their souls.

"I need to be sure we're all talking about the same person here before I can give you any information. You're talking about a young boy, yes?"

"Yes," Aayla spoke next (she followed the same pattern of speaking before introducing and it was quickly driving the doctor insane), "he may have arrived here three or four days ago with his master."

"And his master was a human, correct? Black hair, black eyes, named…Zimerek I believe?" Tocarra questioned slowly, taking her time in choosing her words and noting every movement her guests made.

"That's correct," Obiwan told her and almost jerked his head back in surprise at the way the woman's face suddenly changed, twisting into a tight look of anger and protectiveness that he hadn't seen in many years (the last, he hated to admit, had come from Anakin's mother when she had spoken to his old Master about taking the child from his home).

"The boy is here," was all the doctor said, her voice quieter than a moment ago as she shot them all looks.

When she offered no more and didn't relax Anakin felt a stab of anxiety and unexplainable fear jump through his body like a lightning bolt, tearing into his system and forcing him to harshly swallow before he spoke again.

"Can we see him?"

The red face tilted and blue eyes scrutinized him, pulling him apart bit by bit as if to try and read his full intentions. She seemed satisfied after a moment and stated:

"I believe you all need your own medical evaluation. You've been through quite a bit in the past few days."

"Nothing we can't handle," Anakin replied and Obiwan had to restrain himself from smacking his former apprentice over the back of the head.

"Please. We must see him," Luminara tried her luck, "If you truly wish for us to get medical attention we will gladly do it after we are assured of the child's safety."

The studying eyes flew to her next. Finally Tocarra took a deep breath in resignation and told them in a whisper:

"Very well then. I can't deny you the right to see the boy since he's legally under the Jedi Council's custody. He is under a security watch so you must be careful around him… know that we're doing all we can for him – that's my only warning to you. Now, quietly. Follow me."

With that she turned and walked calmly out of the office, the white coat she wore rippling slightly in the air kicked up by the sudden movement. Half a moment later all of the Jedi trotted quickly after, all of them adjusting themselves and standing up straighter when they caught up to walk right behind her in order to preserve whatever dignity they had left in front of the few people in the halls. Obiwan raked his hand through his unsettled ginger hair to try and tame it, letting out a silent grumble in frustration when he couldn't manage to get it all to lie down. Master Secura adjusted herself where she held onto Luminara's supporting arm.

Through it all Anakin couldn't shake the uneasiness that plagued his mind – he had known Zimerek for a long while when the man had turned to the Dark Side and he had seen first hand what that…thing was capable of doing to a padawan. If that man had hurt this boy there wasn't a force that existed that could stop Anakin Skywalker from tearing him apart limb by limb and cell by cell in payback. Ahsoka meant the world to him (seconded only by Padme' in his mind) and he couldn't fathom the idea of a master wanting to do anything to harm their apprentice.

They walked back down the hallway that Anakin recognized as the one he had gone down earlier and he felt himself get a slight feeling of butterflies in his stomach at finally finding the lost Jedi.

But whatever it was that the he and the others had planned to see when they finally found the other padawan… wasn't this. Tocarra led them almost silently into a room not far from Ahsoka's and before they even reached the door all four of them had to shake their heads to clear them of the oppressive atmosphere that seemed to absolutely push them down toward the linoleum floor. The doctor walked through the open doorway with a professional strut that did nothing to give away her own despair at the being that resided here and drew up close to the bed, pulling the plastic clipboard off the bed's wall and placing it on the bedside table. Resting a hand on one of the half-foot-high plastic walls on the bed's edge, she carefully reached over with the other to slowly grasp and pull back the dark red covers that concealed the child underneath. Once they were drawn back enough to reveal his face she calmly lowered them to the boy's shoulder, turning around to press a thin finger to her lips in a gesture of silence before waving them over to where she stood.

They followed her instruction with scrutiny, walking as flat-footed and silent as their boots would allow across the expanse of the room to the bedside – and Anakin could've sworn he was looking at a dead body, not a child. What he saw was a skeleton lying on his left side under the covers, skin a sickly tan and far lighter than Ahsoka's, making it almost impossible to see the single white birthmark on his face. The prominent black lines and bags underneath his eyes didn't help with the look of death he bore – and neither did the sores that were present on his cheeks and forehead (and what happened to catch Anakin's attention the most was the black bruise that was swelling the left side of the boy's face). On the skeletal neck stood a pair large, red, angry-looking spots directly over both of his jugular veins that had multiple small holes in them that resembled needle-piercings. His small lips were pasty white…almost as white as the small breathing tubes that crossed from where they were secured with medical tape to the side of his head, over the jutting cheek bones, and into the small nostrils to help him breath.

Four separate intravenous lines crossed from under the bed covers to the bags suspended on the metal stands next to the bed and a loud heart monitor beeped the readings it received from the wires that led from the machine's side underneath the warm covers as well. A large screen on top of the heart monitor read in large, bold, white numerals: 92.2°F and had a small line graph displayed beneath it with the line showing a general downward slope.

"This is Djibourdi," Tocarra told them in a whisper that was so quiet it wouldn't have been heard if they stood another inch away from her, "He's about a couple years or so younger than Ahsoka… but as you can see, his condition is much further along than hers."

She halted in her speaking for a moment when the child shifted, shivering a bit as he tried weakly and vainly to find more warmth. In desperation she gently tucked the blankets around him a bit more, knowing in the back of her mind that the small gesture didn't do anything to help him at all.

"He is nothing more than skin and bones," Luminara whispered from where she stood, taking in the sight with shock.

"When he came to us, he was already underweight. He's only been here for four days and he has dropped around eight pounds," the doctor told them quietly, "He literally is skin and bones. This disease has no mercy."

"What is that?" Obiwan questioned, gesturing to the boy's neck.

Tocarra gave a sad sigh at the question, suddenly tightened her hands around the plastic wall around the bed for a moment before she found her voice.

"Djibourdi is receiving the same medication that Ahsoka will be getting – twice daily injections of a drug called 'Laizis B' followed by dialysis about two hours later. Unfortunately for him, Laizis can only be injected near a major blood vessel and it can't be below the midline so the heart can move it throughout the body easier. His sores are…beyond our control on his arms, especially in the crook of them where we would need to inject the medication-"

"So you inject it into his neck?" Anakin ground out in a hoarse whisper of shock, receiving several shushes in annoyance at how loud he was being.

"I'm afraid so," the Togrutan woman told him after a moment of making sure the boy was still in his fitful sleep, "and it…pains me to know how much agony it causes him to do so."

Djibourdi suddenly gave a sound of distress from where he was sleeping, his pale face twisting into a look of unrestrained discomfort as he was unwillingly rushed toward awareness.

"What is happening?" Secura questioned the Togrutan who reached over to gently touch the young cheek.

"He's waking up," the other replied quietly, as she gazed down at his face, "He's not feeling too good so he's not happy at the moment – and the last thing that he needs is to be awake. He needs to sleep."

A weak jerk of the young body announced him coming to full awareness, Djibourdi's eyes slowly revealing themselves from behind the pale, cold sheets of eyelids. The golden irises held a haunted look when he saw Tocarra standing before him, but the look he gave each of the Jedi surprised everyone but the doctor – he was looking at them in fear, such a palpable fear that made their stomachs churn. His eyes were quickly glazed over with tears when the familiar pain, weariness, nausea, fear, and exhaustion all piled onto his mind at once and, despite what the doctor standing near him tried to say, he knew it was there to stay for a long time.

"Djibourdi, shh," the doctor tried to soothe, stroking a prominent cheekbone with the backs of her fingers to try and lull him back to sleep despite the fearful shivers that wracked the young body at the motion, "You need to sleep, little one."

She caught his shaking glance at the Jedi and tried to reassure him of their nature.

"No no, child," she told him, bending over a bit so she wasn't towering over him as much, "No they are not here to hurt you. Shh…child, shh-shh…"

There was obviously no quelling the fear the boy had within him and he began to shake, trying to use his hidden hands to weakly and fruitlessly pull the covers back over his head to hide him from everyone's view. Out of the thin throat came several soft clicking sounds of distress and he tried to (once he found that he couldn't move the covers at all) bury his face into the pillow under his head - to which he only succeeded in painfully yanking the IV lines and the breathing tube sharply where they were attached to him with medical tape and gauze. With a sad look Tocarra turned back to the Jedi, telling them apologetically:

"I'm sorry, I don't know quite how to ask this…but can you all step out? I believe having so many foreign people here is putting him on edge."

"Of course," Obiwan quickly replied and the others nodded, stepping away without resistance.

"Thank you. I will join you again shortly," the woman promised before turning back to the child in the bed.

As they left, the only sounds that the Jedi could hear were gentle shushes and the beeping of the heart monitor that echoed through the room.

Even without his gifted sensitivity Obiwan knew it – and by the looks on the faces of the other Jedi, they had figured it out too. This boy was the one who had sent the signal through the Force, he had to be. By the way he had reacted to their mere presence alone told him that something had happened in the past few days that must prove rather significant… what else would cause someone to fear their own family? The Jedi had always had the unspoken bond of family between all of them, but this child had, instead of finding solace in their presence, reacted with a palpable fear that still had the man numb with shock. He and his fellow Jedi stood solemnly in the hall for a long few moments as they waited for the doctor and all of them turned with surprise when she briskly trotted out of the room and across the hall, knocking on the door to Ahsoka's room with an urgent fist.

A thin-faced man opened it only a crack and blinked inquiringly at her, listening to the fluent Togruti that she spoke to him before he turned and in turn spoke into the room. The door opened wider and a Togrutan man stepped out, his handsome face twisted with concern. He moved with the doctor back across the hall as the door behind him shut, the man ducking swiftly into Djibourdi's room while Tocarra stood in the doorway in a method of observing what he was going to do. After a few moment of watching whatever was happening she gave a sad sigh, reaching in to grab the door handle and pull the door closed in order to protect the pair from prying eyes.

It wasn't until she turned back to them that Obiwan finally asked the question he had been dying to ask since he saw the child and the second it left his mouth, the whole atmosphere changed.

"What has happened here?"

The doctor met his eyes with her own before letting out a huff of breath, giving him no verbal response but instead jerking her head back up toward the main office where she began to walk. They slowly followed her lead.

Without a sound they traveled a ways away and into a large room past the office. It was furnished with a large metal table with a projector fastened in its center, a dozen plush chairs, a few large potted plants in the corner, and a large counter in one corner of the room where a running coffee pot was making the dew of the gods. With a simple gesture from the doctor the Jedi all sat at the table and faced out of the large window across the room, all of them finding a little bit of solace in the beautiful view of the dark lake outside. In the back of his mind Anakin wondered about Rionon's fate but it was quickly locked away when a tray was put in front of all of them holding four cups of steaming caf, several things of sweetener and creamer, and a few black straws. Tocarra herself went back and poured her own cup, fixing it to her own standards before walking with it in hand to the side of the table opposite the Jedi where she sat down.

Everyone allowed the silence for a few warm moments, fixing their caf and letting the heat of the liquid bring life back into their fingertips (in all honesty Obiwan himself preferred a nice cup of herbal tea over this caffeinated load, but at the moment he didn't see a right to complain. When enough time had passed he decided to push a bit and began to speak.

"Doctor, where is Kailem Zimerek?"

She met his gaze wearily, emotions playing in her eyes that he couldn't quite name.

"Make no mistake, Masters," she told all of them, "I am a very tolerant woman…but the one thing that I refuse to stand up for is a person who harms a child."

The surprised looks on their faces gave her enough of a reason to lean back with a resigned sigh, settling herself in for the long haul.

"A lot has happened in the past few days, you understand," she started, "and it all began when Djibourdi arrived here with that… man. They came much the same way that Master Skywalker and Ahsoka did, but there was one major difference: any fool could tell that Master Skywalker cares for his padawan. He carried her in here despite his own exhaustion and almost had to be forcefully removed from her room. That man was different."

"How so?" Anakin questioned as he leaned forward, almost desperate to know everything that had happened.

"He drug the boy in here," Tocarra told him with a menacing flash of teeth, "Djibourdi could hardly stand upright but that man had a hold of him and was dragging him through the hall without a care – he couldn't have not noticed the tears that the poor child was crying by the time they got to Eddy and myself."

_Another sharp jerk of the thin arm had the little Togrutan youngling trying his hardest to speed up his steps, his breath harsh and labored against the agonizing pain that shot through his body as his limbs forcibly moved themselves to follow his Master's silent order. A sudden stumble in his step almost had him pitching over if it hadn't had been for the painfully clamped on his bicep almost throwing him back to his feet. _

_A few whispered words to soft for the others around them to hear had him bowing his head down further, thanking the Holy Force that at that moment a man and woman came running toward them. He allowed himself to give into the weariness and fall into the man's arms who crouched quickly to catch him, the child's mind barely comprehending Zimerek's feigned calls of concern. _

She took a slow drag of her drink with deliberation and slightly hung her head.

"We should've realized it then – it was the most blatant lack of care for a child I've ever seen… but I chose to ignore it out of respect for the Jedi and out of trying to convince myself that it was a sort of… hangover from the trip they had to endure. None of use wanted to believe what we were seeing and not a single one of us could get Djibourdi to tell us anything."

"_Tocarra, iesle," Eddy called to her from where he stood near the bed where he had been pulling off the extra layers of cloth on the frail body. _

_When she neared she saw what he had discovered and felt her insides begin to boil with anger at the sight of the quickly swelling and darkening bruises on the sunk-in stomach, the twig-like legs, the prominent ribs – oh Force they were everywhere! Eddy met her own angered look with a pretty good copy as he turned his attention back to the boy who had tightly shut his eyes so as to avoid their gazes._

"_Child, where did these come from?" the doctor found herself falling into stride, reaching over the plastic bed walls to gently palpitate the thin torso in order to see if the heavy bruising was caused by internal bleeding._

_The only sign that he was even conscious was a tremor of a wince that crumpled his face but he made no sound at all and the woman ceased her movements._

"_Djibourdi?"_

_He gulped and Edd_y _unconsciously found himself rubbing a thin hand in his own to try and reassure him as Tocarra made up her mind. _

"_It's fine, you don't have to tell us anything," she calmly told him and watched the golden irises wearily reveal themselves. She had to play her cards very carefully and right now her hand could only get her through one round at a time, "Let's check your weight and get everything started, alright?"_

_Eddy couldn't even find it within himself to write down the scale's reading and had to force himself to swallow the angry curses that wanted to boil out of his throat like the lava from a volcano. There was no way – no way in any galaxy that anyone could tell him that there was a perfectly innocent reason why an eleven year-old Togrutan boy only weighed fifty-four pounds. _

"Where was Master Zimerek in all of this?" Anakin heard himself grind out, barely finding the self-restraint needed to keep himself calm and not go on a murderous rampage.

"In the hall," Tocarra told him, leaning back a bit, "He hardly gave us the amount of trouble you did, Master Skywalker. He didn't want to be anywhere near the boy once they got here and had contented himself with exploring the hallways and doors – never even batted an eyelash at our offers of medical assistance and a com-link for him to call his Council. Of course at that point Djibourdi was our main concern and that man was put on the back burner while we tried to get the youngling settled in. Eventually we did and he was able to sleep for a while before we started treatment."

She rubbed a hand over her tired eyes, sharp irises boring into each of their own.

"I tell you this only because it's the truth – I don't have the right to condemn anyone nor do I have the authority to speak to your council," she spoke strongly, "I'm relying on you to trust what I say and know that it is the truth and has not been changed."

Her guests all nodded in consent and she continued.

"Djibourdi underwent three rounds of Laizis all total – meaning that he had been with us for almost two days at this point," Tocarra recalled with a glance around to all of them while her thin fingers stroked the outside of her cup, "He was already in poor condition when he had gotten here and because of the injection site of the drug he had severe bouts of nausea and headaches, vomiting, light sensitivity – it drained what little strength he had right out of him. Through it all the boy was dead silent. He never said a word, never made so much as a squeak, we could hardly hear him breathe at times. The only exception was when you had to move him – he couldn't handle that without completely losing what composure he had and the walls around him would crumble like a sand castle in the wake of a storm."

She took another long drag of the steaming liquid from her cup, the light in her eyes suddenly very far away – Anakin had seen it hundreds of times on the clones when they finally found a break in the fighting. She wasn't here with the Jedi. Her mind was death-locked in the past as she recalled the events prior to their arrival.

"Never have I met a man as crafty as… him," Tocarra whispered quietly without warning, staring down at the table. Her lips twitched in what almost looked like a grimace, "He had us all fooled. He left the hospital that evening for something – an urgent bit of business had come up, he had told me when I asked. I didn't think anything of it… and as…horrid as it is for me to admit it I know we were all glad to see him leave. If he was gone, that meant that Djibourdi could sleep."

Obiwan was surprised to see the upset demeanor she suddenly took on as she paused, mouth opening and closing a couple times as she struggled to piece her words together into intelligent sentences. It was with a deep breath that she finally started once again and all four of the Jedi held onto every word she spoke.

"We aren't sure how he did it. We all saw him leave but none of us saw him return – not a single person saw him come back into the hospital and leave again… but it was Eddy who pulled the alarm."

"Alarm?" Obiwan questioned for clarification, finding his throat suddenly dry.

"There's a special alarm that must be pulled if a patient goes missing," Tocarra told him with a haunted glance, "Djibourdi was gone – he was missing and the IV lines were covered with blood like they had been torn from his skin. The child could hardly move his arms – there was no way that he had pulled those lines out and left that room of his own accord."

She took a deep breath, gazing at the holoclock on the wall above the door.

"It was about this time – it was dark, windy… hardly a night that anyone wanted to be out on. I don't know what…possessed Eddy to look out that window… but there will never be a day that I don't thank some almighty power for it. He was out of that room and flying down the stairs before I could find out what it was that he had seen."

Tocarra suddenly stood and turned around, walking toward the window that overlooked the lake, gulping harshly and taking in a harsh breath. Just as Anakin went to suggest that they should continue the conversation later she spoke, her softly accented voice quiet against every small hum of electricity in the room.

"The thing about screaming is that… no matter how hard you try to prevent it, it carries. Djibourdi hardly makes a sound but it…"

She turned her head to look at them.

"It was the screaming that caught our attention."

He couldn't quite understand what she meant until her gaze turned back to the lake and it was then that Anakin felt himself gaping like a breathless fool, images of horror flashing through his mind. Screaming, the harsh splashing of water, a palpable horror streaming from the young mind, desperation, a cruel face sneering down through water before everything distorted –

"Eddy got there first," Tocarra began to speak, missing the shaking of the tawny-brown head as Anakin tried to clear his thoughts, "Zimerek was trying to drown the child."

_Without warning the raven haired man was bowled over with a freight train of force, all two hundred and fifteen pounds of muscle and bone in the Togrutan MO's body alight with fury and anger. A sickly satisfying crack met his ears and the Jedi fell sideways into the water, obviously stunned by the sudden and painful attack that had left a nice-sized crack on his head from bone-bone contact. It was with a feral snarl and flash of teeth that Eddy knocked him further away in the waist-deep liquid and sent a flurry of splashes and droplets of water into the air._

"I'm pretty sure that he never saw it coming," Tocarra said with a humorless laugh, shaking her head, "I've had the pleasure of knowing Eddy for years and…I've never seenthat kind of force from him. Djibourdi was taken away from the Jedi obviously and Zimerek was arrested."

_The extra weight of the freezing water didn't phase the Togrutan man one bit. Eddy scooped the weakly flailing child into his arms and out of the water, ignoring the guttural screams and cries that the obviously shell-shocked boy was releasing and quickly waded his way back toward land. The Jedi padawan was held securely to him via a supportive arm under his bottom and thighs where his legs weakly wrapped around the larger torso and another strong appendage bent in between his shoulder blades that led to a hand that cupped the back of his skull. Come Separatist Hell or a wave of ticked off Storm Troopers, Eddy wasn't letting anyone else near the wailing boy who clung to him so desperately with stick-like arms wrapped around his strong neck and lekku. It was understood by everyone who ran past and into the lake to subdue the now-alert and angry Jedi Master who was fighting with furious fists and legs._

_Whatever happened behind him did nothing to stop the Togrutan man once he reached the shore and shot back into the building, zipping past everyone who tried to gain his attention and rampaging up the stairs (the lifts were too slow for this – he had no mind to try, only to get as far away from that damned man as he could). When he made it to Djibourdi's room he slammed the door behind him and locked it tightly, throwing his body weight against it to ensure that it was firmly shut. _

_When he was undeniably certain that no one would get in without his knowing he carried his trembling charge to the bed, stripping off one of the fuzzy blankets from the top of the mountain of covers and, leaning back, was able to toss it over the soaked back of the child and maneuver his arms to wrap it mostly around him. Soon enough he was pacing around the back of the room with his arms back in their original places, holding the frightened child to him while he sobbed and wailed and cried like nothing the man had ever heard before. True enough, Djibourdi had every right and there was no way that Eddy was going to deny him that._

_Every protocol that he knew from years passed had been tossed out the window the second that the boy had gotten to the hospital and now Eddy pushed past the final 'no crossing' line that had been invisibly strung up between the medical personnel and their patients, turning his own head toward the shuddering one buried in his neck. With a gentle clucking of his tongue he pressed their faces together and began to pace to and fro in the small room, extremely relieved when the horrified screaming melted down into the heated sobs that added more liquid to Eddy's already wet neck. _

_His tears weren't even hot – they were only slightly warm and actually served to cool his protector's neck instead of heating it up. Yet the man took it all in his stride, clucking his tongue and making those soothing sounds from his montrals that vibrated the younger ribcage with its frequency. By life or death he would protect this boy – the only child in his years of working in that hospital that had found a way to worm into his heart._

"And that's how we found them," Tocarra said with a slight waver in her voice, "Djibourdi hasn't – he hasn't spoken a word since. Not one word, not even a sound… the most we can get out of him are clicks and whines and we're lucky if we can get that now. Eddy's the only one who can get near him without getting the same reaction you all did and he's the one who had to redo the debridement and hook the poor child back onto the machines because we couldn't get close enough. Just being around water had him so agitated that he clawed and bit Eddy something fierce for a while until he remembered where he was."

"Where is Kailem Zimerek?" Luminara Unduli spoke for the first time, usually level voice slightly alight with a higher tone of anger, "If this is all true he must be arrested for treason and abuse to a minor."

"Master Zimerek is dead."

Tocarra said it with no emotion at all, turning around to look at all four of them with an even gaze that did nothing to give away her thoughts. None of them spoke for the longest moment.

"Dead?" Obiwan repeated in disbelief, eyes wide and gaping at her, "Did you-"

"No," the doctor stopped him before he could even ask, shaking her proud head to aid in her point, "Although we do believe in capital punishment on Shili for these kinds of crimes we all decided that his fate should be left to the Jedi – it's beyond our reign here. He was transferred to a prison inside the city walls and somehow in the middle of the night… without weapons, without the Force, and even with that hit he had taken from Eddy he… somehow managed to subdue the guards, sneak passed the droids. By the time they finally found him he was already gone. He had drowned in the city fountain."

"He ended his own life?" Aayla asked in disbelief, hardly able to fully grasp it all.

"Yes. He drowned himself – just as he had been trying to do to Djibourdi… only this time he succeeded."

"Did… did he ever say…_why_ he tried to do that? Why he… he hurt this kid?" Anakin had to ask out slowly, for the first time in his life finding it difficult to speak with clarity.

"I had asked him," the woman responded while she sat back at the table, grabbing her cup, "I asked him: 'Why would you try to kill someone that you have sworn you life to protect?'"

One long drag of her drink wet her throat again.

"I'll never forget what he said. He look at me with… soulless eyes – an emotionless gaze and… he just kind of shrugged," she mimicked the movement before looking the youngest Jedi present straight in the eyes, "And he said to me: 'If I don't kill him, no one ever will. I have to kill him now to save him.'"

She gave a huff of breath and pained smile at that, looking at all of them.

"What does that mean? I asked him that too and he just repeated himself over and over again – no remorse, no sorrow, no regret… not even an understanding that he had tried to kill the boy. Nothing. He didn't fight the guards all the way to the prison and he didn't say another word. Not a single word."

"We will need his body for the Jedi rights," Unduli told her and blinked in shock at the response she received.

"We don't know where it is."

She sighed.

"About four or… five hours after the body had been taken by the city coroner, we got a call – from the morgue. The coroner had gone to officially examine the body but it wasn't there. The cooler had been opened from the inside and the keypad hadn't been touched on the outside of the door. Nothing else was out of place so that tells us that it wasn't a body snatcher and no one was on duty in the morgue right then."

"He must still be alive."

"I don't know. All I know is that Djibourdi now has several issues to deal with and it's not helping him at all with anything. He does not hear about this conversation," she suddenly ordered them firmly to which she received several nods, "The last thing he remembers is that lake and he doesn't need to know that the monster may be very much alive somewhere out there."

She gave a final look at the hanging holoclock before she stood from the table for the last time that night, addressing all of them.

"Now you know. I've held up my end of the bargain, now you have to hold up yours. Go down one level and get evaluated by one of the medical droids – then call your council. I have to go check on Djibourdi and Ahsoka before I start anything else. No exceptions," she shot at Anakin who had opened his mouth to protest, "I have to play my cards with certainty in the next few hours – and I'm afraid that I'm not looking to good with it at the moment."

Placing her plastic cup in the sink she headed to the door, bidding them all one final well wish before she was gone again, lithe body trotting with an air of precision down the hall toward where her patients were.

**IOIOIOIOIOIOI**

I hope you all enjoyed it! Please write me some constructive criticism or kind words – any flames will be removed and you'll be reported. I have no tolerance for idiocy.

Best of wishes, everyone,

~Eliana


	10. Strong Faces

Here we go, ladies and gents – the tenth installment in this story. It was a long time coming and I finally got it done today for y'all.

Thank you very much to all those who reviewed before and who hopefully will again – it's pure awesomeness to see those messages in my inbox. And many, many thanks to Count Mallet who let me borrow one of the words in this chapter.

Summary: See previous installments, please.

Disclaimer: The OCs in this story, the hospital, the animals, and the plot are mine. _Nothing else_. PLEASE do not use any of them or repost this story anywhere else or use the words within this story for your own purposes – if you'd like to repost it somewhere, ask permission. I work hard on this and it's my creation. Please treat it and me with respect.

Warning: This chapter has a pretty intense depiction of medical treatment in my world. Please read at your own discretion.

There are no super-hidden quotes and/or grammatical things in this chapter. As usual, please let me know any grammatical errors you see – I've discovered that the 'h' key on this laptop's a butt…as is the mouse that likes to jump around a lot.

Enjoy your holidays and please review! (Who knows – if I get enough feedback and have enough time here I might get another chapter done before Christmas!)

Happy writing,

~Eliana

**IOIOIOIOI**

Whether or not he wanted to admit it, Anakin had to give Tocarra one major prop: she knew how to be in control of a situation regardless if you wanted her to be. She had told them all to go get checked over by the medical droids on the lower level and they had done as she ordered, allowing the accursed cold-metal droids to poke and prod and manipulate their bodies rather complacently – but that's not what had surprised him. What had Anakin Skywalker reeling was the fact that one minute the droid states something about 'injecting antibodies' into his arm, and the next he's blinking like an owl at the holoclock above the window seven hours later.

Oh – trust your instincts: Anakin was not at all a happy camper about the deception… but he also couldn't help but concede the fact that he felt much better now than he had before. He had wearily sat up in the hospital bed and rubbed a hand over his face to shake off the cobwebs, combing through his messy hair as he looked around. Obiwan was in a bed not far from his own, his usual Jedi robes gone and replaced with a light blue hospital shirt. A single intravenous line ran from a bag of clear liquid above his head (a fluid drip, Anakin distantly recalled from seeing them in the medical bay with his troopers) and he had a thin white sheet pulled up over his body up to his rising and falling chest. Staring down at his own body for a moment to note that he wasn't at all in a similar situation he slipped off of the bed onto bare feet and padded over to take in his old master's face. Although he looked pale and slightly shaky Obiwan looked much better than he had hours ago, much to Anakin's relief.

With his flesh hand he reached over to pull the sheet up a bit further over his mentor's chest in an attempt of compassion and forced himself to turn away after that, hunting for his shoes and socks. Finding them next to the bed he had been laying on he slipped them on groggily before standing again and stumbling toward the door. He slipped out without a sound and quietly strode down the sparsely populated hall, in the back of his still water-treading mind where Luminara and Secura were as he entered the lift and hit the number nine button. With a familiar hum and hiss the doors slid shut and the pod lurched as it began its short journey upward. A couple seconds later it shuttered and stopped, the polished durasteel doors opening smoothly and letting him enter the ninth floor of the hospital with a slight ease of breath, both hands dangling at his sides as he turned himself on the proper path toward his padawan's room.

With a certain confidence he glided past several of the shut doors and returned the polite bows of the head that several of the nurses sent to him before he found the room he was looking for and stopped short. Silently the worn-out looking Jedi Knight turned his head to peer curiously through the open door and found the room devoid of anyone foreign – but the one thing his eyes caught onto immediately was the prone form of his padawan snoozing beneath the mountain of blankets. Disregarding whatever rules the hospital had for visitation he allowed himself access to the small room and crossed the distance between them quickly.

She looked…peaceful, Anakin told himself with a bit of a sad smile. His eyes were glued onto her face as he sat himself in the strategically-placed chair on the side of the bed nearest the door and he somehow found it within his natural restraints to keep his hands on his lap and to not touch her. He wanted her to sleep forever like this – this peaceful sleep that seemed to cocoon her in warmth and safety and kept her feeling better than she had been for days. The sickly tan of her skin had darkened a bit again into an incredibly soft pink and her lips had finally regained some hue (granted, nowhere near their healthy color but Anakin would take anything over stark white).

The slightly exposed portion of her neck bore clotted wounds and he found himself bristling with a bit of anger before he came to his senses, letting it out with a hiss of breath. Whatever these people had done was obviously helping her relax at least and for that much he was grateful. Ahsoka shifted suddenly under the green-colored covers and let out a tiny blow of air through her mouth, her lungs making the unmistakable rumbling that naturally came with the motion before she settled once more into the plush white pillows behind her head. Anakin couldn't help the fond smile that crept onto his face and forced his hardened lips up and he silently chuckled at the girl who was so quickly into a deep sleep.

"You truly amaze me, sir," came a controlled voice from behind him and Anakin turned in his seat to catch a glimpse of Eddy who stood in the doorway.

The well-built man was dressed in wine-red scrub pants with a dotted shirt with matching colors; his hands planted on his hips as he quirked a white eyebrow. The elegant facial markings he wore only gave him a kinder expression as he grinned at the Jedi with a disbelieving look on his face.

"I've never known a person to take so much sedative in one sitting and be awake within twelve hours," he told the Jedi with a hint of humor

"I've kind of gotten used to it," Anakin whispered back to him with mirth, watching him saunter closer, "After all of the battles we've been through the Force knows that I should be immune to it by now."

"Had your fair share of dosages, I take it?" the other questioned when he reached the human's side, shooting his a fang-filled grin.

"Between you and me," the Jedi admitted with an actual smile this time, "but of course no one else has to know."

"Of course not. We all have our little quirks."

They remained in a companionable quietness for a long moment, listening to the beeping of Ahsoka's heart monitor and the soft breathing that passed in and out of her nostrils as she slept. Neither had the courage to break the relaxed atmosphere until Anakin could wait no more (his lack of meditation and the inability to use the Force were really throwing him through a loop) and he spoke in a very controlled whisper that reminded Eddy of a fleeting wind.

"I'm afraid to wake her up."

"She sleeps of the bone-weary, Master Skywalker," Eddy told him honestly, glancing at him although he didn't turn his head, "You could probably bring a raging herd of Mesanon through here and she would stay asleep. We're gonna to let her wake up on her own before we start anythin'."

"What about the other kid?" came the sudden question from the Jedi's mouth as though it had just come to his mind, the tawny-brown hair ruffling when he snapped his head up to look at Eddy, "Djibourdi?"

The Togrutan man gave a sharp sigh through his nose, shifting his weight onto one foot and crossing his cloth-covered arms in front of him without a word. After he picked out what he was going to say he opened his mouth, the warm baritone now a soft-spoken tenor as he almost appeared to speak out of grievance.

"Dji's awake," he started, gently nibbling his lower lip, "He didn't really go back to sleep after yesterday – I mean for more than ten or twenty minutes at a time. And he's not…well… he's not respondin' that well to the treatment."

He nodded his handsome head toward Ahsoka to move the Jedi's attention back to her (which of course Anakin did with curiosity).

"It's obvious with her that the debridement and antibiotics," he used one hand to gesture to one of the IV bags, "are at least fightin' off potential infections she may get. Djibourdi… for some reason he isn't responding to them. Even though what they have isn't a virus the risk of infections from these wounds could be a huge problem waiting to happen."

His lips twitched then it a half-smile.

"And I know that Tocarra's reachin' her wits end with me right now."

"Why's that?" Anakin asked with a large dose of curiosity, turning to look at him again.

"I'm gettin' too attached," Eddy told him blatantly and the Jedi had to blink hard at how familiar that sounded, "There's a pretty high chance that – well regardless of that I have a habit of actually gettin' to know my patients and not just watchin' from a distance. Attachment is an issue –"

"That will distract you from your job," Anakin quoted with familiarity, almost laughing at the surprise on the other's face.

"You too, sir?"

"Story of my life," the Jedi grumbled, "And I'm no 'sir'. Only the clones call me that and you don't much look like a clone to me."

"I'm supposin' that was meant to be a compliment, Master Skywalker?" the medical officer questioned him to see if he accepted this title (to which he was rather relieved that he did).

"No doubt."

A soft-fisted knock to the ajar door behind them had both of the men turning around to see the newcomer, spotting Donavan supporting his weight on his raised hand. The light-skinned Togrutan man was watching them both with a slight hint of amusement but it did little to override the heaviness that had seemed to settle on his shoulders.

"Sorry gentlemen," he told them both softly, his gaze settling on his colleague, "We gotta do Djibourdi's laizis."

"I'll be there in a second," Eddy promised him and watched him leave before turning around and closing his eyes in an effort to steel himself.

"Can I come too?"

The sudden question had him drawing a blank and it took him a long moment to shake off the uncertainty and turn to the Jedi with a curious expression.

"Pardon?"

"Can I come with you when you do his treatment?" Anakin clarified a little slower, earning himself a dumbfounded expression in return, "If Ahsoka's going to go through it too I want to know what she's up against."

"Master Skywalker," Eddy started with astonishment, "What young Ahsoka will go through isn't what Dji has to endure. She'll have a much easier time of it."

"Still."

The human and Togrutan shared gazes for a long moment before Eddy conceded with a strong huff of breath, bowing his head slightly and turning on his heel to face the door.

"I can't give you permission – you're gonna have to ask Tocarra," he informed the Jedi, "I personally have no problem with it but – well, you get the idea."

The doctor hardly seemed overjoyed to see the Jedi up and about when they both approached her in the hallway and was even less amused when Anakin asked her the same question he had asked Eddy not moments earlier, but to his surprise she conceded without much of a fight to his request. With skilled hands planted firmly on her hips she gave him a classic 'Obiwan' glare, ensuring she had his attention as she spoke to him.

"Two rules: one, you must stay in the back of the room. Djibourdi is a very shy little boy and has yet to react well to visitors," she ordered and, at Anakin's nod, laid out the second rule, "two, you cannot stop us from doing our job."

He opened his mouth to prove to her that he had no intention of that but was stopped short by a hand held palm-forward to him.

"Know that I speak the truth when I say you'll want to stop us. We need to do this – regardless of how much we really don't want to – and it's an upsetting thing to watch. That's your only warning."

She stared him down as he gave the affirmative to her before she pulled her head back and gestured for both of them to travel the short distance and enter the boy's room. Upon entering Tocarra pointed out a chair at the very front of the room for Anakin to sit on and he did, content to watch everyone else in the room set up everything. Curiously he noted that no one bothered to approach the bed before Eddy did.

The Togrutan man skillfully undid the latches that held the small walls around the bed up and lowered the plastic barriers down, effectively grabbing the attention of the boy who Anakin had almost swore was asleep. Haunted gold irises snapped straight to Eddy who went to retrieve a strip of hard plastic from a drawer before calmly approaching his patient again, sparing the child a smile.

"Hey there, Dji," the man greeted, slowly reaching out to slip his hands under the thin arms and drag the ragdoll-like body up as he himself sat on the edge of the bed.

The child gave little resistance to the movement and just watched the adult with sharp eyes (for someone so young this boy had the look of a person trapped in a warzone for years) and didn't actually show any reaction until he was propped up on the strong body behind him and Eddy tried to slip the tongue tie into his mouth. Anakin understood then why it was necessary because a look of sheer terror ripped over the face of the padawan and he jerked his head back with a flash of small, pointed teeth. Eddy tried to calm him and tried again, only to barely miss getting nipped (this behavior was apparently normal for Togrutan younglings because no one really paid it much mind, Anakin deftly noted), the golden eyes wide and flaring with a silent warning that he was ready to fight if necessary.

"Dji, you know me - don't fight me now," Eddy asked of him and, to Anakin's surprise, Djibourdi let him slip the plastic into his mouth finally and strap it beneath his chin, "Thatta boy."

The praise did nothing for the child who had begun to let out the now-familiar clicks from the bottom of his lungs as he watched Tocarra across the way gather something on a tray, not stopping the sound when a warm hand cupped over his eye in the form of blinkers.

"No clickin', Dji," the man whispered to the boy soothingly, "Nothin' to be scared of, buddy. Nothin' at all."

Djibourdi obviously didn't think so and the louder clicks proved it, the white lips over his teeth moving in a motion that almost looked as if he were trying to talk over the tongue tie. The small legs twitched beneath the mountain of blankets and the cloth moved ever-so-slightly with them, Eddy making sure that they were well out of the way. One hand brushed the little lekku behind the thin neck and it was then that Anakin noticed what he hadn't the day before – an oddity that he had only heard of but never seen himself before. A set of four lekku limply hung from the weak head instead of the customary three.

This fact only served to make the child look smaller than he actually was as he leaned against the MO who held him up, obviously lacking the strength to support his own weight. Donavan, Tocarra, and some other helping hands finished gathering their supplies and random objects, most of them being put on one of two trays that sat on the counter top. When they were sure they had everything the two trays were lifted and carried by two of the nameless helpers and they followed Tocarra as she journeyed over to the side of the bed opposite of Eddy, reaching over to hand the MO a surgical mask that Anakin hadn't noticed her holding until then. All of them put a mask over their faces and it seemed to only serve as another catalyst for the fight-or-flight reaction of the child they surrounded, the almost-white face distorting into too many emotions for Anakin to count.

The little legs started to move again and his head jerked away from them a few times before trained fingers slipped between the tongue tie and his chin, keeping him in place as everyone took their places. Eddy leaned the little head back against his own shoulder and kept the fingers of his left hand hooked under the plastic tie and settled the other warmly on the tense forehead of his patient as he gently leaned his head back. Donavan sat at the foot of the bed and leaned over, supporting his weight on his extended right arm on the other side of Djibourdi's legs and had a somewhat-firm hold over the blankets that hid the small hands.

Anakin didn't quite understand what they were doing until Tocarra snapped her latex gloves on and reached over for a small bottle and a cotton ball the one of the orderlies held on their tray – and it was with a drop of his stomach and a twinge of nausea that he finally grasped why they had arranged themselves the way they had and held the boy so tightly. They were holding him down.

Tocarra skillfully undid the bottle top and pressed the cotton ball against it, turning it over three times in quick succession before setting it and the plastic top of the bedside table. Gloved hands took the now-wet cotton and rubbed against the prominent right jugular vein of her patient, trying her hardest to ignore the sharp look that Djibourdi had fixed her with. Had he the strength to move on any normal day there wouldn't be a person in the world who wouldn't flinch back from the feral light that burned in the wild eyes.

"Don't fight against us, child," the doctor told him from behind the mask she wore, continuing to rub the disinfectant on his skin, "I'm sorry but you know we have to do this. Don't fight us and it'll all be over soon."

It was an empty promise that did nothing to assuage the obviously disconcerted padawan, the small nostrils flaring around the breathing tubes that pushed air into his lungs. Eddy was the only one who could hear (and feel) the faint warning growls that rumbled the small lungs and, had the situation been any different, probably would have smiled at the small show of bravery from the youngling. In this setting he could do nothing but purse his lips tightly together and try and remained detached as the growls stopped and suddenly became silent whines when Tocarra tossed the used cotton ball to the table and retrieved the first syringe from one of the trays. Anakin felt his own widen as the padawan's did at the sight of how large that hypodermic needle was and watch as Eddy carefully tightened his hold and whispered quietly to the child:

"Close your eyes now, lene."

The pale eyelids slammed tightly down over the sharp eyes as Tocarra pulled the cap off of the syringe, revealing a rather large needle at its end. Grasping the instrument in her dominant right hand she leaned forward with the left, placing a few fingers right above the injection site before the needle drew closer. With slow ease of practice it pressed against the child's skin before slipping into the pale flesh, Tocarra taking the time to carefully slide it in all the way. Anakin could feel his own body shooting sympathy pains as he watched, now understanding why the doctor had warned him about wanting to stop her – every fiber of his soul was ready to fly over and tear her into tiny pieces for causing so much agony.

The gloved fingers adjusted themselves on the syringe's plunger and end and then began to slowly press in the plastic, deliberately depressing the almost-clear solution from the syringe into the child's body. Donavan carefully pressed his weight down against the hidden legs as they began to struggle again, trying to stop the motion before Tocarra slipped with the needle and ended up tearing the boy's jugular vein. Djibourdi began clicking louder than he had before, his face scrunching up against the pain and underneath the covers his hands found the energy to ball into fists. Eddy gave a few understanding shushes, using the hand he had on the cold forehead to lend whatever help he could against the agony and watched the doctor finally empty the syringe and adjust her grip. Grasping the very top of the instrument she skillfully popped the syringe body free form the needle, putting the now-empty plastic on the tray and grabbing a new, needless syringe from the tray. Practiced hands snapped the new plastic onto the needle and drew back the plunger, mixing a bit of red blood with the stark-white solution before she began to press it into her patient's system.

"You're doing good, Djibourdi," she told him without moving her eyes from her work.

His response wasn't one that any of them had ever wanted to see and Anakin felt his heart tear itself agonizingly into two as he watched the boy's brave face finally slip down, crumbling as much as it could into a look of grief.

"Uh-oh, buddy," Donavan tried to soothe him from where he was, drawing most everyone's attention to the single tear that slipped down one of the young cheeks, "Uh-oh."

"Only one more," the doctor reassured as she snapped that syringe off too, replacing it with the off-crystal-blue solution filled syringe, attaching it to the still-inserted needle and immediately began to administer the solution, "Last one."

Thanking the Force that the last one was the smallest, Anakin gulped heavily as the solution disappeared into the boy's body before Tocarra retrieved a sterile cotton ball, easing it over the inserted needle before carefully drawing it out. The cotton ball was pushed down immediately once the needle was free and Eddy took the job of keeping pressure on it, removing his hand from under Djiobourdi's chin to press the cotton in place.

"We're all done, Djibourdi," Tocarra told him gently as she drew back, taking the syringe cap and pressing it over the needle and pulling the orderlies away from the bed. All of them finally removed the white masks over their faces and set them aside.

Donavan released his light hold on the boy as well and backed away, leaving only Eddy near the youngling who had yet to open his eyes and continued to shudder silently against his supporter. Ever so slowly the Togrutan man relinquished his hold on the trembling forehead and let the young face drop forward onto a strong bicep that belonged to the arm pressing the cotton into the cold flesh. The arm's twin wound its way across the bony back, using its strength to lean the little body into the larger one.

"Here Eddy," Donavan suddenly supplied out of nowhere, handing his friend a tissue and using a pair of medical scissors to cut the tongue tie off and pull it out of the young mouth.

"Thank ya, Donny," the man returned with a bright tone, obviously trying to cheer up the padawan that just limply lay against him.

Anakin watched him deftly wipe the soft cloth over the pale face, the one tear that had escaped Djibourdi's grasp becoming a very faint memory in the wake of the soothing nature of the Kleenex against the cold skin. Eddy had leaned his head down and was murmuring something to the boy but it was far too soft for anyone else to hear, and Anakin found himself slightly jumping in surprise when the lights above his head suddenly dimmed. A glance next to him revealed that Donavan had crossed the distance from the bed to the light control and had dimmed them down (to which the Jedi faintly remembered Tocarra mentioning something about headaches the day before) before the smallest MO came to stand next to where he sat.

"Some times are harder than others," he whispered to the Jedi, "Like this one – when Djibourdi starts crying and makes us all feel like devils…"

Numbly the human nodded, his eyes glued back onto the pair sitting on the bed (he found it almost impossible to believe after something like that that the child didn't even look that upset anymore – who had a pain tolerance that high?).

"Is that what it's going to be like for Ahsoka?" he found himself asking hoarsely, not even bothering to turn his head to look at the person he was addressing.

"That?" Donavan clarified, jerking his head toward the pair to which Anakin nodded, "No – I don't think so. It should be much easier for her."

"It's going to sound….awful… but thank the Force for that," the Jedi whispered unintentionally and was surprised when the Togrutan chuckled.

"I agree. I don't think we could handle having to do this to two people…especially ones so young…"

The last of his sentence was whispered so quietly that Anakin looked at him in concern and had to do a quick double-take at the look on the thin face.

"Alright everyone," Tocarra suddenly announced from the other side of the room in her regular voice after she drew the curtains shut, "Vacate. Let's give Djibourdi a little time to rest – Eddy, you stay here."

She gave the order as she passed and he didn't even bother nodding from where his head was arranged on top of his charge's, a confident hand having slipped under the little lekku to rub the calming bundle of nerves that were hidden at the base of his skull. He was doing a good job of relaxing the youngling who looked as though he would go to sleep if he wasn't in so much pain, a pale hand holding incredibly loosely to the one that pressed the cotton ball to his throat.

"Master Skywalker," Tocarra drew his attention when he didn't move, "Come on now."

He finally stood and left the room, stopping when Tocarra did outside the door and watching her close it gently.

"You have questions," she told him rather than asked, "And I believe you deserve some answers. If you would like, we have about two hours before I have to do his dialysis that I can answer some of the questions you have."

He didn't have to move his head or speak an affirmative before she led him down the empty hallway toward the conference room.

**IOIOIOIOI**

Translations/pronunciations:

Lene – means 'little one' – usually used as a very affectionate term (pronounced 'lee – nee'). Thanks Count Mallet!

Djibourdi – no entire translation just like Ahsoka. Depending on the dialect it can either be pronounced 'Ja – bor –ti', 'Je-bor-ti', 'Ja-bor-di', or 'Je-bor-di'. It's really only the end of his name that changes. Eddy calls him 'Dji' for short (pronounced 'Jee').

That's all! Please review!

Happy writing,

~Eliana


	11. Doctor's Musings

Here you are, folks – the eleventh installment! Compared to the others I think this one may be a wee-bit short, but there's a lot of info in here. First off, some clarifications:

I got back to college and just started classes again – that's why this is so late. I still remember you guys, I promise!

In response to a review: I tried to space out these paragraphs as much as I could, but I have to keep them bunched in a certain way for my weirdo-writing style (…which apparently some of you guys like).

The internet has been a major butt here lately. This is the first time in two weeks I could get on (thanks to an awesome friend loaning me an Ethernet cable) and that's another reason why this is pretty delayed.

Summary: See previous installments, please.

Disclaimer: The OCs in this story, the hospital, the animals, and the plot are mine. _Nothing else_. PLEASE do not use any of them or repost this story anywhere else or use the words within this story for your own purposes – if you'd like to repost it somewhere, ask permission. I work hard on this and it's my creation. Please treat it and me with respect.

Warning: This one's not as heavy, but it has some sad thoughts at the end.

As usual: read, enjoy, review! I do really appreciate the thoughts I get from you guys. Whatever can help me improve my writing brings me joy.

No flames. Period. End of story. Finito. I can post it in several other languages too if need be.

Enjoy ladies and gents, and I hope to hear from you all!

Happy Writing,

~Eliana

**IOIOIOIOI**

With a lethargic blink Ahsoka finally came back to the living world, immediately feeling the muscles of her back loudly complain at being it a frozen position for so long. Without the care to move she let them float haphazardly to the back of her mind as her eyes slowly drifted from one corner of her enclosed bed to the other, starting slightly when a careful hand placed itself on her elbow that was buried beneath the covers. Bleary cerulean irises floated up to the warmer, ocean blue eyes of Doctor Tocarra Maneias as if to try and remember exactly who she was. After a moment her mind caught up and, with a deep breath, the padawan began to speak.

"How long?' was the barely distinguishable question that was marred with a few cracks and grumbles from the dry throat that still somehow managed to bring a small smile to the doctor's face.

"You've been asleep for a little over a day now, Ahsoka," the woman supplied and couldn't resist chuckling at the bewildered look that settled on her patient's face, "You needed the sleep, child. Now that you're mostly with us I'm going to check a few things."

Ahsoka was placid and limp through the entire examination, content to roll her eyes around the hospital room to see what had changed in the last day and immediately snapped her eyes toward the door when footsteps approached. Donavan stepped in with a small, welcoming smile chiseled on his face and eyes alight with glee at seeing her awake. He was alone in entering and made his way over to her bedside as the doctor finished whatever it was that she had been doing. A look was shared between them (a questioning glance from the woman and a reassuring pointed returned gaze from the man) and Ahsoka could almost hear the silent conversation, nearly sighing in relief when she noted that it wasn't about her.

As soon as that conversation had started it was gone and soon enough all attention floated back to her, making her feel (for the first time in a long time) shy.

"It's good to have you back with us," Donavan told her softly, silently absorbing her entire form with his eyes.

"Had us quite curious at how long you were gonna sleep," the doctor teased her lightly from where she had crossed to the cabinets on the other side of the room, "but you passed your exam with flying colors."

Bright eyes turned to her patient and she tilted her head, large lekku following the movement and flowing lightly over her shoulders and chest.

"Do you feel better at all?"

The slightest of nods was her answer and the woman felt herself smile.

"I'm glad to hear of it, child. Do you think you can eat something?"

She shared a joyful glance with Donavan at the affirmative she received and halted in her gathering, crossing the room toward the door.

"Then I'll just get you something to eat then, shall I?" she questioned one in particular and drifted gracefully out the door, leaving Donavan with the padawan.

He moved to slide his arms under her body and the mountain of blankets, the ease of practice marking his motions as he pulled her body upright, arranged the pillows, and leaned her back against them so she was reclining easily against them. He gave her a smile in return to her own sleepy one and retrieved the little stuffed canine that was in the crook of her arm and plopped it in her lap so she could see it.

"I think Eddy was right- you do need to name him. If that man keeps calling him 'fuzzy' I think I'll lose what sanity I have left."

"Funny," came the one word reply from the dry throat and she grinned at his snort.

"Hardly. That boy wouldn't know 'funny' if it was printed on his forehead where he could see it every time he looked in the mirror."

"Oh Donny, I'm flattered."

The medical assistant whirled around with wide eyes and Ahsoka felt a smile worm its way onto her face when she saw the now-familiar head peaking into the room with a wry look contorting his features. He stuck out his tongue at the other man, winking at the padawan who gave an airy giggle.

"I may not be funny but you have no life- eh!"

His mouth clamped shut and he ducked under the blow of something behind him. Tocarra reappeared with a plate of steaming food in her left hand and a plastic clipboard in the right, her head shaking almost sadly from side to side as she re-entered the room.

"Amazing how many times I can hit you both over the head and yet you still have less common sense that a caretaker droid."

She handed the plate to Donavan and turned on her heel to point a finger at her assistant, a mock-stern look sharpening her gaze at him so he would take her seriously for a moment.

"You. Break. Now. Be back here when your break's over but you had better eat something or I'll force feed you."

"Yes ma'am," Eddy conceded, ducking back into the hallway to journey to the break room and barely catching his friend's warning of:

"She checks containers, Ed!"

The doctor laughed at that, going back to her job that she had appointed herself in gathering the materials that she knew she would need to begin treatment. Behind her she could hear the distinct sound of a fork slightly rubbing against a medical metal plate, whether or not Ahsoka was feeding herself or Donavan was helping she wasn't entirely sure. Doctor or not she knew how awkward it was when people watched you eat with scrutinizing eyes – and she still had a job to do anyway. She pulled open the mini-fridge positioned on the counter top and retrieved the three separate vials of solution, filtering each one by one into their respective sterile syringes before placing them back into the cooler, deftly popping the plastic caps onto the hypodermic needles and placing them on the tray next to her.

In the back of her busy mind she thanked whatever deity or controlling thing that existed for the fact that this child would have it so much easier than the other- though she preferred to not have to do it at all this was the next best thing – and that Ahsoka seemed to be responding to the beginnings of the treatment already. With any luck she had Form One and that would be the greatest gift any of them could receive. It was hard enough as a doctor to have to watch people die on your table, but it was a kind of soul-wrenching, heart-shredding agony that broiled slowly into you when it was a child.

Having any child die under her care had for years pushed her further and further into the realm of Togruti religion (if the symbol she wore under her shirt pointed to anything), but she had once again felt herself coming up short as far as Djibourdi was concerned. Fourteen years separated her only run in with this…disease and she could only pray that they could save at least one of these younglings.

An involuntary sigh pushed past her lips when she realized that she had been musing aimlessly. She was getting sloppy.

A look back to Ahsoka revealed that all of the nutrient-enriched fish was gone and Donavan had placed the empty plate to the side. He was currently talking to the girl quite animatedly and Tocarra realized that it must have been another one of his stories that he was telling (if there was such a thing as reincarnation he must have been a bard in the previous life). As much as she hated to ruin the moment the doctor only need wait for her assistant to return before they would administer the first round of laizis. A quick glance back down to the syringes brought her only the slightest bit of relief – the little three-quarter-inch hypodermic needle was a far cry from the torture devices that Djibourdi endured twice daily.

It had been a long standing dream of hers (since her years in medical school, she recalled with a wry smile) to be able to find a way to make every medical solution possible to administer through a hypospray. Geniuses they had in that field – geniuses – and yet they had still not managed to completely breakdown the carbon bonds in some of the solutions enough to create a gaseous form that was usable. Laizis, insulin, some varieties of penicillin, chemotherapy solutions, arthritis medications – the list of those they couldn't use in the hypospray seemed longer than those they could. It would make the process so much easier on both her patients and her if she could simply get rid of the needles…but that never seemed to be how it worked out.

She understood that what they were doing was necessary but whether or not the children understood was the kicker. It was on a daily basis that she had to choose: compassion or duty. It got harder and harder the more days passed…and the longer she had to think about it waiting on her assistant drug out the turmoil even more.

Fortune was on her side this time for wait was hardly a long one before Eddy came striding into the room, leaning around Donavan to finish his story to Ahsoka and earning himself a playful flick in return from the storyteller who huffed in frustration. They were content to chuckle with each other and Ahsoka before Eddy glance up and gave Tocarra a nod, signaling to her that they were ready to get going. Carefully the doctor balanced the tray over to the bed as Donavan shut the metal door, sealing off all sound and sight to the hall outside.

It opened again not half an hour later to reveal dimmed lights and a thankfully not-worse-for-wear group. Tocarra and Donavan had busied themselves with getting rid of the used medical items while Eddy sat perched on the bed above the lowered walls, pressing a cotton ball into the crook of Ahsoka's arm and holding it above her head as he talked to her, immensely grateful and overjoyed that she seemed to not really be too affected by the treatment. The procedure had gone over smoothly and Ahsoka hardly reacted to it, perfectly happy to talk with Eddy throughout the ordeal and offering no resistance to the slight stinging that the medication caused.

All three of the adults were more relaxed now that it was over with and everything appeared to be less tense. It was with a soft smile that Eddy lowered her arm back down and began bandaging it that she finally asked the question she had wanted to know for a while.

"My master?" she croaked to the medical assistant who gave her a blank look for a long moment before catching on to what she was asking.

"Master Skywalker got called into some Jedi thing. When I'm done I can go see if I can find him for ya if ya want," he offered and returned the nod he received, "I'll do that then. Just let me finish this here."

"I'll go," Donavan told him, already heading for the door, "I'm supposed to go give something to Deek anyway."

Without another word he was gone and Eddy blinked after him in confusion, glancing over to his superior who was finishing her disposal of the needles in the sharps container.

"What's he giving to Deek?" He questioned her only to receive a shrug.

"Probably some more eval papers. You know how the Republic medical standards are now – more papers filed than credits you earn in a year."

A huff of breath was Eddy's only response as he finished taping down the cotton ball and testing the IV lines for security. 'Fuzzy' hadn't been moved from his spot in his owner's lap and provided excellent means of distraction for the padawan before her master (hair standing on end, tension vein throbbing on his head, and upper lip twitching in the usual 'I'm incredibly annoyed' fashion) finally came in, his expression immediately changing into a look she could describe when she was able to open her mouth and speak his name clearly for the first time in days.

Unbeknownst to them it wasn't in their room that the most significant event of the hour was happening – it was in one not far away. Even with the lights off Obiwan could still feel the sharp stabbing of golden irises on his soul (with the minimal light they still reflected a dangerous yellow that had his natural instincts telling him to move away). He had called himself ridiculous for even considering the notion for half a second as he had sat down, his own eyes meeting the ones sweltering a distance away where they glared straight through the wall surrounding the bed. This was a child, a child younger than Ahsoka and who could hardly move, and yet he still felt without the aid of the Force a pulsation of danger from the boy.

They sat in silence for almost an hour before Obiwan slowly began to stand. Djibourdi did nothing and didn't move a single muscle until the Jedi put one foot forward as if to walk to the bedside where the child lay mostly hidden beneath the covers. The warning growl was clearly heard even with his human ears and he silently sat back down in the darkness (the master in him demanded that he correct the boy for such insubordination but he chose to try and gain his trust slowly before correcting his behavior). Almost immediately the growling stopped but the glowing eyes stayed fixed on the Jedi Master.

Obiwan stood again and moved forward, only to sit back down at the warning growl from the padawan. They continued this odd dance for the better part of an hour without interruption before Obiwan finally spoke, his voice slicing through the dense air (though not silent due to the heart monitor) like the lightsaber at his side so familiarly cut through metal droids.

"Come now young one, enough of this," he admonished lightly. He only sought to make a point, not to punish in any way, "I mean you no harm and you are hardly acting as a Jedi should. I only mean to be your friend."

He received no verbal or sounded response, nor did the glowing irises move from his body. The human stood again and moved two paces toward the bedside. When the rumbling began again he didn't back down and instead stepped forward another step – then another, and another, and another.

He had only crossed about half of the distance to his goal when the growls abruptly stopped dead from where they had been prominent milliseconds earlier. The ginger head tilted slightly to one side in curiosity and the two sets of eyes examined one another with distinct scrutiny before the master took another step forward – only to freeze in place at the sharp whines that suddenly erupted from the little boy hidden under the covers a few feet away. Obiwan gingerly finished putting his foot on the ground and, instead of taking another stride, leaned his body forward as if he meant to move and felt his heart twinge painfully at the fearful sounds that were sent to him.

The brave face was gone, there was no doubt about that. Djibourdi's chance to feign him out had passed and the only way he could avoid a confrontation was to try and appease his 'attacker'. Obiwan had no mind at all to cause harm to the child (in all actuality he had come out of concern for the child's health after he had woken up and spoken to the council about him) and had come only to speak to him, but that was obviously not something Djibourdi seemed prepared to tolerate.

Pushing their new 'limit' the master put one more foot forward – and abruptly jumped when the child flinched back sharply in the bed and began to click loudly in pain at the tuck of the imbedded IV needles in his skin. Throwing his hands up in a gesture of good will Obiwan slowly backed away again toward the door, not turning his back to the still-clicking padawan who was transfixed on him once again.

"Alright, little one," the master whispered apologetically, trying to loosen his stance to seem less of a threat, "alright. That is enough for now. I will leave you be."

He left the dark room not a few seconds after that. Djibourdi lay dead still for Force knew how long before weakly lifting his head to try and view over the wall surrounding his bed as if to ensure that the human was gone. Assured finally he let his head fall limply onto the pillow as his eyes drifted to the tangled lines that he had created when he had moved and let out a slow stream of air from his nose, feeling the familiar burning of tears bite at the back of his eyes. But he slammed his eyes shut and brought his teeth forward to nibble on his lip and told himself no – not here. Not for him.

He didn't deserve it. No human was worth his grief no matter how much anyone else trusted them and he would rather be caught dead than have that man approach him again.

One trembling hand curled into a fist, gathering up some of the bed covers with it.

Some Jedi he was, he thought with a soft sniffle, whimpering like a toddler when he was alone and flinching away from everyone who bothered to come near him. Some Jedi – he couldn't even handle this hospital… he wouldn't live long enough to regret it anyway, he told himself. He hardly slept, he couldn't keep food down, he couldn't even lift his head for more than ten seconds at a time… a twinge in his hand reminded him about the tangled line and he just gave a couple of clicks, closing his eyes.

Jedi or no, there wouldn't have been a second that he would have denied that he wished someone would come check under his bed for monsters.

Monsters…like him. Djibourdi shivered.

He had been one of a kind and the other humans here (the one from earlier in the day and the one just now) seemed different than he had been, but it wasn't going to happen that they would get his trust. One of those men (Master Skywalker, Eddy had told him earlier, the master of another girl with this disease) truly frightened him to his core no matter how kind he had tried to be.

'Broken goods', Master Zimerek had put it - he was broken goods. Soon enough it wouldn't matter.

It was one in a series of days that Djibourdi would probably never forget – he fell asleep hoping that he wouldn't wake up.

**IOIOIOIOIOI**

Hope you enjoyed it and please review!

Happy writing,

~Eliana


	12. Historic Legends

Here ya go, folks. This one took longer to write than I thought (the outside distractions are amazing when you're unemployed).

Any-who, this is a really important chapter since there's a lot of info and some very important events happen.

Summary: See previous installments, please.

Disclaimer: The OCs in this story, the hospital, the animals, and the plot are mine. _Nothing else_. PLEASE do not use any of them or repost this story anywhere else or use the words within this story for your own purposes – if you'd like to repost it somewhere, ask permission. I work hard on this and it's my creation. Please treat it and me with respect.

There aren't any real warnings in this chapter.

I hope you all enjoy it. Thank you to those who have left reviews and I look forward to the ones I get next.

…no flames please!

Read, enjoy, review everyone!

Happy Writing,

~Eliana

**IOIOIOIOIOI**

"Good morning, Ahsoka," the doctor greeted when she entered the room the next morning, pleased to see the young girl sitting up in her bed with the aid of her pillows and slowly munching on the food in front of her.

There was no steam rising from the dish (every possibility of injury, even a burnt tongue, had to be ruled out) but the woman could immediately tell – without looking –that it wasn't thimiar on her plate. Allergic reactions to the animal's meat were common amongst younglings and thus it wasn't served on a normal basis.

"Good morning," the other replied quietly, her voice incredibly scratchy and hoarse compared to the adult's – but at least she could speak (and a hidden joy came into both of their minds when they realized just how fluent she had become once again).

"How are you feeling?" Tocarra asked as she put her clipboard on the bedside table and began to write down some of the vitals that the machine read.

"Little better," the padawan told her, allowing the woman to grasp her wrist to take her pulse.

"Well that's good news," the doctor told her happily when the number of suitable seconds passed and she released the thin appendage and wrote down the number, sparing her patient a smile and crossing to the medical cabinets across the way, "Has Donavan been in to change out the thermometer this morning?"

Ahsoka nodded when the woman turned her head back and nibbled on a piece of scrambled egg that sat on her plate idly, obviously not too terribly interested in the food but too hungry to let it go to waste.

"Good, good," Tocarra murmured to herself, grabbing a handful of individually-wrapped gauze pads and some rubbing alcohol before placing them on a medical tray and rooting around for something else.

"How is he?"

"Pardon?" the woman returned to the unexpected question, turning around to meet the gaze of the worn-out looking Jedi-apprentice.

"The other padawan," Ahsoka clarified, swallowing a bit to clear her throat, "How is he?"

The elder Togrutan opened her mouth as if she was going to speak but, after a moment, it snapped shut and her lips pursed together when she turned back to her task. It was a few seconds later when she crossed the expanse of the room with the tray, setting it down with a metal clink on the bedside table next to her clipboard that she opened her mouth to reply.

"Djibourdi isn't…isn't doing well," she tried to pick her words carefully, glancing at the child, "He isn't reacting the way you are to this treatment and he's too scared to talk to us."

"He doesn't eat."

Ahsoka received a blank look in return. The adult's mind tried to fully grasp the concept that somehow this child knew something that the medical staff had kept on the down-low for almost a week – and before she could ask, the padawan clarified:

"I see them carry the plates of food to and from that room. They never look different," she whispered quietly, looking down at her plate of half-eaten food, "He doesn't eat."

Her voice cracked in complaint to the sudden extreme usage and she bowed her head, surprising the woman who stood next to her bed when she sucked in a shuddering breath.

"Ahsoka…Ahsoka, listen to me," the doctor spoke, reaching over the plastic walls to place a light red hand on the back of a pale, tan one over one of the IV insertion sites, "I need you to listen and try to understand something, child."

She waited until the girl looked back at her before she spoke, trying to keep her voice low so it didn't carry.

"I'm no Jedi. I will be the first to admit that," Tocarra told her, "But even as a doctor, there's one thing that I've had to learn over the years – and as cruel and painful as it is, you have to know this to make it in life."

Ahsoka took a long breath and watched her, meeting the blue eyes that watched her closely.

"You cannot – you simply cannot undo every wrong in the world, child. No one can."

When the girl didn't reply and looked away, she kept on.

"Sometimes people… they lose what hope they have left."

"Then we need to give him hope," Ahsoka suddenly said fiercely, looking back up into the doctor's face with a gaze of determination.

"Ahsoka-"

"Please. Tocarra… I want to meet him."

The elder sighed, trying to persuade her against it.

"Ahsoka, you're not even strong enough to sit up straight on your own. You can barely lift your arm to your head-"

"And that's all the strength I need," the padawan told her with a pleading look, "Look, I know…"

She swallowed deeply and looked away.

"I know that I'm not in a good spot right now and if I'm… no one should die alone."

That was the last thing Tocarra had expected to hear from such a young person and she found herself speechless, trying to piece together the words to say against it before she finally gave a long breath of defeat. If the girl was that determined on it than so be it. The only harm it could cause was an hour or two of lost bed rest and a little string-pulling on Tocarra's part... blast her – the girl was making her soft!

"All right, I tell you what," the doctor pondered, "I'm going to go and find Eddy and the others and go ahead and get both of your Laizis for this morning done… and after dialysis if he's strong enough I'll try and arrange for a hover-chair for you so you can go see him, all right?"

She held up a finger to silence the girl when she went to speak, gesturing to the food.

"But in return, you have to eat all of that. Deal?"

"Deal!" was the happy reply and Ahsoka started nibbling on the eggs again as the doctor retrieved her clipboard and headed out of the room, shaking her head as she made a beeline to the destination that she had absolutely dreaded all evening the day before: the comm room.

It was obvious that no one else had a clue what was going on with these two children and, being their legal guardians, the Jedi Council had every right to know what was happening. Jedi or no, there was no force in the world that would get her to completely change out of her medical attire and into dress clothes just to talk to them.

"It's a defect," she explained to the holographic council not long later, her own holoprojector coming to life when she hit the power button.

When it was on she quickly uploaded the image of a generic Togrutan child's body and zeroed in on one of its legs, zoomed in again to the bone, and one more time to the bone marrow itself.

"This particular disease is incredibly rare – a genetic defect that has been carried for thousands of years in the Togrutan bloodlines. It's more than a double-recessive quality: it's a hardly existing one. The disease itself starts in the bone marrow of any bone in the body-"

She gestured to the screen which had pulled up the image of bone marrow cells.

"The child is born with the defect and a rare few ever have this develop into what it is for Ahsoka and Djibourdi – but when it does it progresses so rapidly that it's incredibly difficult to destroy. One infected cell will break into the membrane of the next, sharing the defect with it and infecting it as well."

The hologram produced a pointed cell that bounced in the imaginary bone marrow before slamming into another, one of its sharp ends stabbing into the victim before the once-circular cell copied the shape of its attacker.

"From there they infect thousands of cells within an hour before latching onto produced blood cells and traveling into the blood stream to every corner of the body."

The hologram showed just that, zooming out and showing the holographic body changing shape.

"Because of the nature of these cells the body doesn't recognize them as an enemy – no immune response is ever taken against them and, in a nutshell, the body doesn't understand that it's under attack by its own soldiers. The infected cells move to every micrometer of the body and begin to eliminate anything that they can, usually beginning with stored fat cells. The exact reason why that is still remains a mystery, but what we do know is that the infection has five distinct stages."

Tocarra shut the hologram off before bringing up another that showed a great number of holo-documents and pictures obviously from a long time ago, along with another diagram of a young Togrutan body laid out in anatomical position.

"I've done my research since my last encounter with this disease fourteen years ago – many of the doctors before me had the great wisdom to record everything that they saw and discovered and from that collection I've been able to gather this…"

The Council and the other Jedi present all immediately focused on the screen displayed before them, watching the documents disappear and the holo-body grow to be the predominant image.

"Stage one," Tocarra began, zooming the screen in toward the bone again, "infestation of the host's cells, both bone marrow and blood. There are hardly any symptoms besides a possibly headache or two as the chemical balance in the bloodstream is disrupted."

She raised a skilled hand to zoom the image back out to view the outside of the body, pointing out the computer-created sores and bruises that had been created.

"Stage two: creation of sores and blood clots in response to the overwhelming presence of a body chemical called priozone. It's only found in Togrutans and accompanies hemoglobin in coloring the body's blood cells. The level of priozone in the actual bloodstream itself is naturally low but with the infected cells lysing at points, it releases the acidic chemical into the tissues and results in the skin sores."

All eyes watched one of the pointed cells on the screen explode, releasing a cloud of odd liquid before the puddle rose to the projected skin and created the skin sore. Anakin pursed his lips together harshly enough to force the blood out of them in order to keep himself still and quiet as he watched it all happen.

"Stage three," the doctor continued, either oblivious to his plight or choosing not to draw attention to him, "The breakdown of body fat due to lack of free cells. Once the entire body has been infected the cells take twice the energy they normally would, causing the body to begin to use its emergency stores of energy too quickly to replace. The low body temperature stems from this – though the reason isn't entirely clear what causes it."

The body on the hollow screen thinned down considerably as the computer calculated what it would look like through the ravage nature of the disease. No one moved (noticeably at least – only Plo Koon himself noticed his own fingers tighten where they were bridged together in front of him).

"I have reason to believe that this is the stage young Ahsoka's in," Tocarra told them, once again moving the projected body and zooming into a group of muscles on its arm, "Next is stage four, the breakdown of muscle tissue for protein energy due to the lack of body fat stores. This is called rhabdomyolysis and, when it occurs, muscles are broken down into their amino-acid building blocks and burned for energy. This releases a product called myoglobin that can cause kidney damage and other side effects – I have physical proof that this is where Djibourdi is. We have made many efforts to rebuild his muscles but they're breaking down faster than we can repair them."

The muscle group on the screen slowly thinned out, releasing the holographic amino acids that disappeared from view. With a sigh Tocarra completely turned off the projector, clasping her hands in front of her as she continued to speak.

"Last comes the fifth and final stage… cell oxidation and, inevitably, death," she told them as calmly as she could, "There's no warning for it – the oxidation of cells can cause organ failure, heart disease, diabetes, seizures, brain problems, aneurisms – the list never ends. Our only hope is to stop this before it reaches that point."

"And that is where your treatment begins?" Mace Windu questioned from his seat to which he received a nod.

"Although there's really no rhyme or reason to it, we found in several cases past that Laizis actually bonds to the infected cells and can be removed through dialysis. If enough of the drone cells are removed from the blood stream, immunity finally takes over and destroys the remaining hostile cells – or that's what we observed with the previous cases at least."

"'What you observed'?" Anakin quoted, drawing all eyes both solid and holographic to him, some of them giving him disciplinary looks in return for his blurted statement, "You mean that this may not actually work?"

He unfolded his arms and curled his fists tightly, hardly noticing Obiwan's protective step toward the doctor to guard her incase Anakin turned into the flying ball of death he could transform into at the drop of a hat.

"In context, yes Master Skywalker," Tocarra responded without a hitch and stared him down in turn, "There's a very good reason that my field declares what we do as 'practice'. Every living thing is different and there's no generic cure that will work on every single living being in a population. The Chosen themselves were like this in their own right and it can be seen in their descendants."

"'The Chosen'?" it was Obiwan's turn to question as he turned to the doctor but before she could speak the holographic Master Ti did, her voice resembling more of a chiming bell than a serious rumble of thunder.

"It is said among my people that all Force-sensitive members of our race originated from one of nine original sensitives – you may only be a Jedi or Force-sensitive if you descend directly from one of the original nine Chosen warriors," she told them all as if she were telling a story to the crèche younglings, "It is a legend."

"A legend made flesh and blood," Tocarra lightly argued, "Out of the one hundred total recorded cases of Endrati, all of the victims can have their mitochondrial DNA traced back to one of four different females. The Chosen legend tells of four females and five male originals – but it seems that, based on the evidence, only the females carried the Endrati gene. Djibourdi and Ahsoka both had a DNA test done on the blood samples I collected and both of them were linked to a single female ancestor in common."

Whether or not this information made any sense to those present was a mystery, but based on the looks on their faces Tocarra had the hope that they at least had the knowledge to understand what she was trying to tell them. One obviously did as Yoda chose to speak, his small fingers twitching over his hold on his staff.

"Intriguing, this is," the wise one murmured, twitching one ear, "Mean you do what I understand?"

"Indeed, Master Jedi," the doctor smiled at him before she chose to translate for the others, "both of these younglings can trace their origins back to a single common ancestor. They both have four of nine Togrutan alleles in common. This means that Djibourdi and Ahsoka, however incredibly distantly, are biologically related."

She looked into each of their eyes separately.

"That's one way to find out that you have a distantly-related baby brother."

She almost laughed at the look on Anakin's face.

"If they live through this, that'll be one story they can share for a while."

A beeper suddenly went off and the doctor lifted her left arm to peer at the chrono-wrist clock strapped to it before lowering the limb again and bowing, stating simply:

"Please forgive me but I must attend to Djibourdi and Ahsoka now. If you have any questions fell free to relay them to me."

With that she strut out of the room, white lab coat billowing behind her with a flurry of sound that marked her exit. The remaining Jedi watched the door close behind her before resuming their conversation.

Every nurse could tell that Tocarra was hardly in the mood for small talk as she gathered the supplies for the children's treatments, steeling herself against Djibourdi's weak glare and Ahsoka's almost bored huff of breath through the Laizis and both of their half-hearted complaints during the dialysis. In the back of her mind she found it rather amusing that, while she was pressing the hypodermic needle into their femoral arteries, they hardly let out a single sound and both chose to fall back into sleep – the differences between them almost fully disappeared when they were this calm.

Three hours after the dreaded meeting the comm. Room was still closed to which she brushed off as she set up the hover chair with Donavan's help. If those people preferred to talk about it rather that actually doing something that was fine – that just meant less people were in her way.

With Donavan at the controls she led both him and the chair into Ahsoka's room where the girl was now giddily awake, obviously excited at what she knew was going on. She was more than willing to allow them to remove the wires attached to her chest and the heating pads from her stomach (that she wasn't so happy about, but the reward far overrode any momentary unhappiness she felt).

"Alright now, child," the doctor told her as she transferred the IV bags from their stands onto two hooks attached to the chair, "Donny and I are going to move you onto this chair now – we'll get your blankets and the poof ball in a moment, alright?"

"Alright," was the response and Donavan moved to the side of the bed, letting the weakened padawan to slip her arm around his neck over his lekku.

Tocarra carefully grabbed around her patient's legs, meeting the man's eyes.

"On lift, Donny. One, two, three, lift…"

They lifted together and Ahsoka was airborne in two pairs of arms before being placed in the hover chair where the blankets were rearranged so her arms remained above them but the rest of her body was covered. 'Fuzzy' was collected from the bedside table and plopped into the girl's lap who dug her fingers into the fur, watching the two adults with eager eyes as they rearranged themselves and turned the chair around. Several nurses snuck into the room with fresh sheets which they began to use rather quickly as the other trio left the room and crossed the hall.

Donavan guided the chair into Djibourdi's room with ease, gently joking with the girl who returned his enthusiasm readily before her eyes caught the sight before her. Eddy sat crouched on the floor with his side to her and, when he saw her, gave her a genuine smile before turning to the hidden figure on the bed. The adult's arm had wound itself around the lump under the covers and his other hand was out of view but by the vibrations that Ahsoka picked up it sounded like he was stroking something.

It wasn't until Donavan stopped the chair next to Eddy did Ahsoka see Djibourdi for the first time, and that first time had her heart almost tearing itself into shreds at the immensely apprehensive look that the sharp golden eyes fixed her with. Eddy moved himself to pull his arm from around the boy and reached over to grab one of Ahsoka's hands, his eyes still on the boy shaking with uncertainty under the covers. Donavan and Tocarra were quick to vanish, leaving the two younglings and Eddy alone to try and make this work.

"Dji?" Eddy called out tenderly after a moment, drawing the trembling golden eyes into his own cerulean ones before he continued stroking one little head tail in reassurance, "This is Ahsoka."

He gave a strong squeeze to one of the girl's hand which was returned, Ahsoka understanding exactly what he was doing. If Djibourdi saw that Eddy reacted the same way to Ahsoka as he did to himself, maybe he would reach out as well.

"She would like to be your friend," the medical officer told the younger child calmly before looking to Ahsoka to get Djibourdi to look too, "and she's really nice, Dji."

However subtle it was the shaking in the younger body finally stopped and Eddy took it as the sign to make his next move and maneuvered the hover chair into his spot before letting go of both children and speaking calmly as he planted his hands on Ahsoka's shoulders from behind the chair.

"I'm going to be right outside," he told them, "but I want you two to be nice, alright? If you need anything be sure to holler."

He seemed to speak that more to Ahsoka than Djibourdi and tightened his grip ever-so-slightly to which she gave him a crooked smile and watched him leave, the mechanical door sliding gently shut behind him. Not wanting the other padawan to become more agitated with the silence Ahsoka turned back around and began to speak, trying to not be like her master and keep her voice soft.

"Hi, Djibourdi. I'm Ahsoka," she told him with a smile, noticing the gaze he had completely glued to the drained sores on her arms. He stayed laying on his side where he had started but she was worried at the flash of distress that floated through his eyes when he took in her own pale skin, open sores, and shaking arms that were so much like his own.

As if completely knowing what had caught his attention she lifted her arm toward her head slowly, looking over it before giving him a weak try at a smile.

"Yeah… not pretty."

She saw his own arm move incrementally slowly from under his covers and tried to decipher what he was saying as the sharp eyes shot from his arm to hers, golden irises trembling with a sudden realization – and then she had her own.

"I know," she told him, drawing his attention back to her face, "we're a lot alike, huh?"

He only blinked in return – but to her own amazement she almost heard the words he was trying to speak to her. He agreed and almost seemed…apologetic for her having to go through this.

"It's not your fault," she whispered to him, eyeing the bruised cheekbone he sported but choosing not to comment just yet, "There's nothing anyone could do to stop this. But… I'd like… I mean, if you want…I'd like to be your friend."

He almost looked shocked at her admittance and shrunk back a bit when she weakly lifted a pale hand toward him, the other holding onto the stuffed canine in her lap as she lowered her own head, trying to make herself seem as small as she could to get him a bit calmer. With baited breath she held her hand there for the better part of a minute and was ready to lower it back to her lap when he suddenly began to lift his own arm to reach toward hers. Ahsoka froze herself where she was and held her breath as his fingers stopped mere millimeters from her own where they twitched in uncertainty.

And then, slowly – ever so slowly – they finally made contact, Djibourdi's fingers gently forcing her own outward until they were palm-to-palm, looking like two sides of a mirror.

A rush of things suddenly charged into Ahsoka's mind and she tensed, her vision being taken over by images and feelings that she wasn't familiar with.

"_Get up!" was the yell as pain rocked young lungs with biting oxygen, tears slipping from straining eyes into dried ground._

"_Confused, young one?" the librarian's voice asked as her hand fell on a thin shoulder, only to be rewarded with a rather violent jump away._

"_Is there something you need to speak about, child?" came a gentle question to which the small head shook the negative so violently that a headache was imminent afterward._

"_You talk, you die."_

_And then water – ice water that was biting and numbing and clawing and then there were hands…hands squeezing the very life out of the terrified body and then darknessand –_

_**Ahsoka I'm scared.**_

The unexpected voice cut through the grey-backed memories and Ahsoka felt herself return to the present, finding Djibourdi staring at their connected hands before hesitantly seeking out her eyes, his own misted with stubborn tears.

…that was Djibourdi's voice, the shock came to the other padawan and she felt her lower lip tremble when she sucked in another breath, moving her hand to firmly cocoon his and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

"…that's okay, Djibourdi," she heard herself whisper, "Because I'm scared too."

Half an hour later marked booted footsteps down the hall, Anakin and Tocarra both appearing together at the beginning of the hallway and making a beeline for Eddy who sat perched on a stool outside Djibourdi's room. He was fiddling with some sort of device in his hand and didn't look up when they finally stopped, letting his superior tilt her head in curiosity at the silence before she spoke.

"…it's awful quiet in there," she told him to which he finally looked up with a bright grin, chuckling heartily before returning to his task momentarily.

"What?" Anakin questioned and stopped dead when the other man raised a finger to his lips to gesture silence before calmly jerking his head toward the door, "Quietly. Take a look."

Both the Jedi and the doctor did, sharing a view through the plastic that served as a window. Both felt smiles creep onto their faces and Tocarra couldn't help but let out a happy chuckle of her own as they watched the two children sleep, Djibourdi snuggled into the weak embrace that Ahsoka offered with one arm where she was leaned over the bed. Her chin rested atop his head and they both had a hold of the fuzzy stuffed canine that rested between them – both were so far into sleep that Eddy found only one way to describe them.

"They're zonked," he told the other two with a grin, "and I think Ahsoka is snoring."

**IOIOIOIOIOI**

There we go. Hope you all enjoyed it and hope to hear from you all!

Happy Writing,

~Eliana


	13. Imaginative Ideas

Oh my goodness – I do exist! …sorry for the delay. I will say that the delay was good this time – I got a job waiting tables and that's what made it difficult to find time to do this. This chapter's a little shorter than the others but a lot happens so read carefully!

Summary: See previous installments, please.

Disclaimer: The OCs in this story, the hospital, the animals, and the plot are mine. _Nothing else_. PLEASE do not use any of them or repost this story anywhere else or use the words within this story for your own purposes – if you'd like to repost it somewhere, ask permission. I work hard on this and it's my creation. Please treat it and me with respect.

There aren't any real warnings in this chapter.

I hope you all enjoy it. Thank you to those who have left reviews and I look forward to the ones I get next.

…no flames please!

All in all there's not much to explain about this one, but do read carefully. Some of these things are really important for later!

Read, enjoy, review everyone!

Happy Writing,

~Eliana

**IOIOIOIOIOI**

When the time finally came to separate the two younglings again all three adults realized it wouldn't be a simple task the second they walked in the room – while Ahsoka was still out like a light where she had contentedly placed herself, Djibourdi was wide awake. Having woken up not ten minutes after Anakin and Tocarra had peered in he fixed all three medical officials with a piercing gaze made by alert golden eyes, not moving a micrometer from where he was currently lying next to Ahsoka but choosing to instead stare them down. By now all three expected it but that did little to remove the small quakes of uncertainty that shot through their bodies at the look.

He knew more than what he let on, Tocarra had pondered one evening with both of her male counterparts; maybe more than they themselves knew. Never before in her life had the doctor met a person (adult nor child) that had a look like Djibourdi did – a look that simply said that he knew exactly what was going on and what they were planning to do before they even considered doing it. It was a fascinating concept to believe that a child this age could scare an adult, but he did it so often now that it became a bit of the talk of legend throughout the emergency halls. Hardly able to move besides a few random thrashes or a toss of the head he wasn't really something that physically needed to be feared…but once that gaze sat on you, it hardly mattered that it was an eleven year-old boy staring you down. If he survived this treatment, there was no doubt in anyone's mind that he would become a force to avoid.

Djibourdi had fallen into his now habitual stare as the three of them moved around the room, collecting the tools that he had come so much to despise that, Force willing, he would somehow find the ability to melt them down into nothing but little puddles of molten plastic. It was hardly any of their choices to do this, that much he himself was entirely sure of – but that did little to remove the sickly, hot bubbles of fear that settled in the pit of his stomach as he watched Tocarra move the long-needled syringes onto a tray. With a sharp flinch he allowed himself to move toward the slightly reassuring presence that was Ahsoka, feeling her unconsciously move one of her arms over him in her sleep.

Whether she would reject his presence or not when she fully came to wasn't his concern at the moment. The only thing he made himself focus on was not losing what control remained in his body to endure the Laizis without complaint or sound – such was the one thing that his Master had managed to actually teach him long ago. The false façade didn't last long when Eddy finally moved in after minutes of careful silence, crouching next to the hover chair and laying a hand on the sleeping Ahsoka's back. He gave an apologetic look to the boy who he knew was very much in fear before he started to pat the girl's thin back, effectively pulling her from sleep.

"Wake up, little one," he whispered to her, giving a good-natured roll of the eyes when she grumbled at him and, instead of doing what he silently commanded, turned her head away and buried it back into the mattress, "Come now, Ahsoka. Wake up."

This time she turned back to him with a half-hearted glare, mumbling incoherently while she slowly sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. After a moment she smiled at Djibourdi and grumpily pouted at Eddy, earning herself a chuckle a firm pat on the back before the man spoke again.

"We need to take you back to your room now," he told Ahsoka calmly, trying his hardest to ignore the fact that Djibourdi had seized one of her hands that had rested atop the bed, "You need to eat before we do your Laizis this morning."

The padawan took a deep, tired breath and blinked blearily before giving him the nod that she understood but not choosing to move – instead she focused on the boy who was almost desperately clinging to her hand and giving her a look that begged her not to leave. She gave what reassurance she could offer with a faint squeeze of his hand. She was the only friend he had… all he wanted was to not be alone anymore.

It was with a soft sigh the Eddy reached over and cautiously touched a bony shoulder for the slightest moment, not only seeing but feeling the stabbing stare that settled over on him, two young eyes silently asking him to do something that he knew he couldn't do.

"I'm sorry, lene," Eddy told the boy, trying to get him to understand, "Both you and Ahsoka need to get your Laizis done. She'll be back," he quickly added in at the flash that ripped through the golden eyes, "She'll be back. The sooner we do this the sooner it'll be over."

In defeat the two eyes lowered to the mattress, the younger hand releasing its grip on Ahsoka's before Djibourdi gave a slight hiccup. Eddy tried to reach out in reassurance only to have the muscles seize before he even touched the child and he understood the silent order, standing and giving Ahsoka one more touch on the shoulder before moving away.

Said padawan watched her younger friend with a saddened gaze. It brightened suddenly with an idea and she acted on it, gathering 'Fuzzy' from where he had been moved down the length of the bed and putting it in front of the other padawan's face. He blinked uncertainly at it and looked at her for a bit of an explanation which she quickly provided, silently praying in the back of her mind that her idea worked.

"I got this little guy from a village," she told him quietly and hoarsely, her voice sounding distinctly like C3PO when her master decided that the android needed a good conk in the head, "He doesn't have a name…Eddy calls him 'Fuzzy' but you can name him if you want."

With a slight bit of force she made him accept the fuzzy stuffed animal in his arms, making sure that he had a good hold of it before she finished what she was trying to say.

"He helped me through a lot… maybe he'll help you too. I really like him so I wanna keep him… if you have him then I have to come back," Ahsoka whispered to her new friend, incredibly delighted when the shadowed eyes brightened the slightest bit, "I'll be back. I promise."

All she got in return was a grateful glance before Djibourdi completely curled himself around the fuzzy animal in a makeshift cocoon, effectively doing nothing more than hiding his face from everyone and painfully tug the IV lines. If Donavan noticed he said nothing as he calmly moved the hover chair away and pushed Ahsoka back to her room, leaving Eddy to try and coax the boy out of his ball so Tocarra could do the treatment. Whether or not they were successful Ahsoka wasn't quite sure but she felt a surge of happiness at seeing Anakin waiting for her back in her own room.

Through half-grumbles and curses she gathered what he was trying to say – and found herself almost speechless at the concept.

"They can't do this," Anakin hissed out again as he paced by one side of the bed, not noting Donavan's quick departure, "They can't honestly expect me to leave you here alone. If the council thinks that I'm going to comply with this then they have another thing coming!"

"It's a war, Master," she painfully whispered to him from where she had been moved back atop her bed, watching him stop dead in his pacing.

He gave her a look that normally would make her retreat a bit further back into her fluffed pillows but instead she continued to softly nibble on the dry jerky she had in her hand.

"No, Ahsoka," her master told her firmly, "I'm not leaving. The war isn't as important to me as – I'm going to stay here."

"Master," she responded, "Rex is smart but he can't lead everyone by himself. They need you."

"So do you."

"But they can't live without you," she argued back, not finding it in herself to move an inch but firmly holding her ground in this argument, "I'm not that helpless anymore. I'll be fine."

"Ahsoka, we don't know what's going on with this and I don't want you to –"

"-die?" she finished for him, watching his head fall in silent recognition of the truth, "…there's nothing you can do. Rex needs you."

Her brave face was a rather impressive display by all accounts and it did very well to hide her uncertainty and tense lines of fear. But she only spoke the truth – there really was nothing Anakin could do. No Force ability, no real medical know-how, no magic powers – right now he was just a human man standing in a hospital room trying to keep his calm so as to not scare his friend. What he needed was to get out of here and back to where the Force reigned… and as much as she wanted to Ahsoka knew she couldn't go with him. She would have to stay and that made her slightly despondent… but all the wiser at the same time.

The great sigh that Anakin released was unknowingly mirrored by Eddy across the hall as he sat perched on the edge of the bed, running the backs of his fingers against a paled young cheek. Djibourdi just lay still, not listening or moving to any sound or question anyone asked – instead lying like a pained rag doll under the multitude of covers with the stuffed toy squished hard against his chest. The hope was that eventually the elder could get the boy to sleep for more than half an hour at a time but it simply wasn't the case.

It wasn't fair, a part of the elder's brain claimed as if it were throwing a childish fit, it wasn't fair at all that these two younglings had to endure such agony without just cause. Even more-so now was the fact that the Jedi Skywalker was being told to leave with the others… that removed one of the few security bands that young Ahsoka had left. Jedi or no it was only a matter of time for anyone to fall prey to despair.

Despair was the name of the boy he sat next to at this very moment.

Eddy continued to study him for a long moment before his eyes sot wide with an audible snap as the proverbial light bulb went off in his head.

"'Carra," he called to the doctor in his normal voice, knowing full well that in the silence of the room it would carry over to her. The woman responded to him by both her and Donavan ending their momentary conversation and looking his way, curiosity marking both of their faces.

"I have an idea," he told them both, grinning down at the now-sleep-locked face of Djibourdi who had succumbed to exhaustion.

The setting of Ogari outside of a large window a couple hours later marked the boy's re-awakening, the golden eyes bleary and sleep-dusted when they slowly revealed themselves. In a split second he froze in confusion, shooting one eyebrow as high as it would go to the girl in the bed next to his, effectively drawing her attention.

"Hi!" Ahsoka greeted a little over-enthusiastically, giggling at the look he gave her, "We have a big room all to ourselves now."

A quick look around the room revealed that she was telling the truth – the room was almost three times the size of the previous one he had inhabited. It was fit with a large window, a couple small dressers, multiple cabinets, and a folded curtain that ran between the two beds.

He gave her another look of questioning to which she responded:

"They put us in here a little over an hour ago. They were afraid to move you because you were sleeping but you were kinda out of it."

She grinned at his sheepish look.

"I thought it was cute."

In her hand she clicked the remote for the holo-television in the middle of the wall across from them, flipping it to a channel of cartoons.

"I missed cartoons," she told him wistfully, "Master Kenobi says that they're 'the way that people get others to forget valuable information'," she imitated in a deep voice, earning a weak smile. Then she whispered to him, "My Master left us some chocolate. But it's a secret!"

She received an airy giggle in return. It was the first time in a long time that Djibourdi felt himself smile – and the first time in days that Ahsoka found herself winding up some more mischief.

**IOIOIOIOI**

Ta-da! There you go!

Please review guys and thanks for reading!

Blesses,

~Eliana


	14. Fruit Flavors

*ominous music* I lllliiiiivvveee! Alright, alright…reasons for the long silence: things never work out how you plan. Long story short I had to resign from my recently-found job, put everything that I could fit in my car (donated the rest), and had to drive over a thousand miles to a different end of the country. Until this point I had no internet and the flash drive I saved all of the chapters on has mysteriously disappeared, so it took me a bit to remember where I left off.

Now I'm unemployed again but at the moment am volunteering full-time, so I should have enough time to keep writing.

This chapter's pretty short but there are some major developments in it, so please read carefully.

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing. Otherwise I wouldn't live like this.

**Summary:** Previous installments!

No major warnings for this chapter, dunno about the next one either. I'll have to see how it flows.

Anywho, enjoy the chapter, review (no flames obviously), and I hope all is well with everyone. Feel free to PM if you would like.

Happy Writing,

~Eliana

**IOIOIOIOIOIOI**

How bored did a person have to be to do this?

Ahsoka couldn't help but ask herself that rather mind-boggling question as she lightly tossed the ball in her hand without much effort, watching the haphazardly-constructed toy roll in the air, slap softly into her hand, and then become airborne again. Anakin had learned a long time ago that it was in his best interest to keep any and all moldable objects away from his padawan but with the Knight gone, no one else had thought far enough to order her not to mess around with things. True to form young Ahsoka soon found herself bored and had tried to watch the holo TV for a bit, only to hand the remote to her new roommate when nothing interesting came on.

Djibourdi was of an obviously different mindset and still to this very moment laid perfectly still, honey-colored irises focused intently on the screen as some unknown fuzzy animal ran full-speed after a small prey animal as the narrator spoke in the background. While this was more than enough to keep her new friend tuned-in it held no such interest for Ahsoka…so she took her boredom out on the medical supplies in the room.

Her new playtoy was constructed mostly of medical tape (that came from both her and Djibourdi's bandages – young Dji had been overly eager to get rid of the mounds of it and surrendered quite a good amount to her when she asked) and it held a few rubber bands Ahsoka had retrieved from the cabinet next to her bed. All in all it was a very low-tech, easy-to-create little doohickey that would undoubtedly provide more than enough of a means of creating trouble for the young padawan. She tested its air resistance by tossing it up a little harder than the previous times, giving a hum of satisfaction as it landed smoothly in her hand once again.

She caught Djibourdi's look, one that mixed a wise warning and a little bit of childish dare, and she puffed her cheeks out at him.

"You worry too much," she told him, tossing the ball up again and catching it, "What's the worst it could do? Hey, you wanna bet I can get it in that vase on the window sill?"

The head on the bed next to hers shook the negative behind the protective wall surrounding his mattress, the other child turning to push his face into his pillow so only one of his eyes watched her. She playfully stuck her tongue out at him, tossing the ball again.

"Worry wart. I'll try it anyway."

With that she took aim, pulled her arm back, and tossed the homemade ball, both her and Djibourdi's one eye watching it jump across the room. Ahsoka's smile quickly melted into a cringe as her toy bounced off the vase, hit the window, shot to smack the wall above Djibourdi's head, hit an AC vent in the wall, and bounced through the door and out of sight. A dead silence followed before it was ended by the crashing of some sort of glass and Tocarra's surprised yelp.

A quick glance was shared between the two younglings before they both hurried to arrange themselves under their covers and pretended to be asleep under the glow of the holo TV as Tocarra's footsteps approached. The woman was hardly fooled as she strode into the room, stopping at the foot of Ahsoka's bed and mimicking Ahsoka's earlier motions by dribbling the ball in her hand until the cerulean eyes cracked open to look at her.

"Alright, now," the woman told Ahsoka, raising one tending eyebrow at her, "I understand it's boring in here, Ahsoka, but that's no excuse to destroy my halls. And as for you, young man," she warned toward Djibourdi who gave her a very shy glance, "Ahsoka's boredom is no role-model example."

"Stop scaring the children," Eddy's voice suddenly emerged from the doorway as he entered the room, two different trays of food balanced in his hands.

"I'll stop scaring them when they finally finish destroying my catheter jars," the doctor told him, tossing the ball toward his head – which he, of course, dodged rather quickly and stopped its rolling with his foot as it returned on the ground.

"Well don't bring me into it," he muttered to her with a false air of annoyance before he traveled toward the table in between the two beds, setting down the trays and watching his boss leave. When she was gone, he shot a warning look to Ahsoka while she slowly sat up in bed, "Now you had best not annoy Tocarra anymore, sweet one. She runs out of patience rather quickly and remember that she is the one who holds the syringes."

Ahsoka sighed but nodded in acceptance, thanking him as the try was passed to her over the wall of her bed.

"It's just so boring in here," she complained, poking without interest at the food he gave her.

"I know," Eddy responded amidst lowering the walls around Djibourdi's bed, "I know it's boring but you need to find a more constructive…less destructive outlet. I can get you some discs to study if you want."

"Thanks, but if this is boring that would be torture," she told him sourly, taking a bit of food.

She missed his humorous grin and focused once more on the TV.

"Hey there, Dji," the man half-hummed, half-cooed to the child in the other bed. Once the nurse had the wall completely down and was seated upon the mattress he reached out for the boy, carefully grabbing him under the armpits and dragging the lip body to lay against him. Unlike Ahsoka, he had no way of holding himself upright and relied solely on the adult to remain that way. Eddy understood this well by now and was more than willing to support him and try and coax him to eat, "Are you going to eat something today?"

The response was a very clear and blatant no – as the motion of the pale head pressed into the man's chest to avoid the small bit of food offered to him.

"It's not that bad," Ahsoka tried to feign (but in her mind she admitted that it WAS that bad – worse than the grit-covered ration sticks she was used to eating in the field) as she bit into another piece of food, "It may not be that exciting but at least you won't be hungry anymore."

Djibourdi didn't move and Eddy sighed, putting the fork back on the plate that rested upon the bedside table, humming as he sat back.

"Eddy?" Ahsoka asked after a moment, the adult responding to her by shifting his eyes to her. He gave her a smile and gestured to her food with a couple fingers.

"You eat that now, Ahsoka. Dji will be fine. He just doesn't want to get sick I assume."

"Isn't there something you can give him to make sure he doesn't get sick?" she tried to point out as she chewed, only to receive a negative response.

"No, dear. We can't risk giving him that and his blood pressure dropping anymore. You focus on yourself now, we'll worry about him."

If he noticed her double swallow he said nothing, trying his best to take care of both children at once. If at least one of them survived that was better then neither… although in his heart the nurse knew that if either of these children died that it would kill him. Why he had crossed the unspoken boundary between patient and MO he had no real idea – especially with the fact that these two were Jedi – but it was something he couldn't ignore. He took a sharp inhale in, expecting for it to calm him, only to find that it stopped him cold.

What was that smell?

He took another breath in, testing the air. It tickled his nose and settled deep in his throat, the advantageous senses of his people allowing him to distinguish that one scent from the hundreds of others mixed in the air.

There it was again. Where was it coming from?

Two or three sniffs later he leaned down to sniff near his charge's head, finding the scent stronger.

Another sniff. It seemed so familiar but so… out of place.

Eddy looked around the room for the source of the scent, scanning over the trays of food, over the room, over Ahsoka, and then leaned his head down to sniff near Djibourdi's head again.

"Eddy?" Ahsoka asked, hand shaking a bit from the sudden nausea that plagued her but also growing concerned with the man's behavior.

He didn't give a verbal response but moved to lay Djibourdi back down as he slid off the bed, still sniffing the air with a hint of curiosity and concern. His pupils were already dilated as he tracked the scent, the hunting instinct of his people allowing him to settle his focus on that one thing at that moment. Rather quickly he turned around and sniffed over the tray of food that sat on the bedside table but, finding that the scent wasn't coming from there, turned to Ahsoka.

"Hold still for a second," he told her, getting the whiff of the air around her. The smell he was hunting wasn't there, only the all-too-familiar scents of rubbing alcohol, medical tape, hints of blood, and slight decay.

Once again he turned and tried the air near Djibourdi's head, finding it saturated in the smell.

"What's wrong?" Ahsoka tried again, fork poised midair above her food.

"Did either of you have fruit in here? At any point?" Eddy questioned her in return without turning around, to which Ahsoka sent him a confused stare that burned into his back.

"Fruit? Why would we have fruit?"

"Please, child. Humor me."

"No fruit…only these things of food and the flowers over there," she gestured to the vase of colorful plants in the corner.

The adult crossed over to the metal container, finding no hint of the smell there either.

"Odd," he muttered to himself, eying the young boy who had curled up in his bed, the two golden eyes watching the elder with a look of worry.

After a tense moment Eddy shook his head, glancing at the holoclock on the wall above the door.

"Ahsoka, your first round of lasix for the day will be in about half an hour," he told the padawan, "And we're gonna test something with you, alright Dji?" he told the boy, "So this is going to be your lucky day – no lasix for you."

Ahsoka stuck her tongue out at the younger padawan, feigning jealousy.

"Lucky," she told him in a calming voice, "See, you won't get to be the living pin cushion today. That's my job."

"Nice job," the nurse joked lightly with her, trying to use the playful banter as a means to shake off the uneasiness that plagued him now.

"Doesn't pay to well. Wanna trade?" Ahsoka shot back, setting her still mostly-full tray back on the bedside table.

"No thank you. I didn't got through three years of medical school and two years of interning to give this up that easily," he returned, sticking his tongue out playfully at her before striding purposefully out of the room.

There was a deep silence beneath the heart monitors and holo TV then, only thinned as Ahsoka took a breath to calm herself.

"Dji?" she shook out, her voice cracking on that single syllable enough of a worry for the younger Togrutan who shared her room to shift his eyes from the far wall to her eyes.

He blinked hard as if feeling the pain she had on her face, his body jumping slightly with the small hiccup that bubbled through his system.

"I feel sick," Ahsoka told him, turning to lay on her right side so she could face him, "I wish Anakin was here… Never thought I'd miss Sky Guy."

She let out a humorless trill at the end of her sentence, doing a double-take of surprise at what her friend did next. The furry stuffed canine was handed over, shaking and trembling with the weak hand attached to it as it hovered over the gap between the two beds. Ahsoka accepted it with an unexpected grin, inexplicably grateful that Eddy had forgotten to put the bed wall back up. The little stuffed toy was soon smushed under a pink head on top of one of her pillows.

"Dji, you're sweet."

**IOIOIOIOIOI**

And that's the end for now. Hope you all enjoyed it and please give me some feedback.

Happy Writing,

~Eliana


	15. Humane Suggestions

Whoo hoo! Next chapter that didn't take four months to write! Yay! Now we're getting into the thick of this, the nitty-gritty.

This chapter has a lot of dialogue, but every bit is rather important – and don't think it's all talking because a rreeallly important event develops at the end of the chapter.

You know I don't own this stuff and that there may be some things in here that bother people, so please be smart. No reposting without permission please. Thank you.

Enjoy everyone! Please feel free to review (once again, no flames) and/or PM me anytime.

Happy Writing,

~Eliana

**IOIOIOIOIOIOI**

"It is what I believed from the beginning," the doctor told the holograms of the many Jedi, her hands hanging loosely at her sides. Eddy and Donavan stood behind her on either side, the handsome head of her second in command slightly tilted downward with his eyes shut so as to mask his pain that he was forbidden to show here, "Djibourdi has form two."

"Are you sure?" Mace Windu questioned as he laced his fingers together, leaning back in his chair in the Jedi Council room.

"I am," was the response with conviction, "I personally reviewed the results fifteen or sixteen times. The acid levels in his blood have increased dramatically; the blood smear under the microscope was crawling with Endrati cells. This lasix hasn't done anything but slightly slow down the take-over of the disease."

She wasn't lying – honestly, Donavan had started to wonder whether or not he'd have to go in and drag Eddy and the doctor out of the small side room himself as he watched from a window, observing both sets of eyes comparing the same four lines on the files over and over again as the two murmured quietly to each other. This wasn't an unexpected development in the eyes of the staff, but hope was always the last thing to die. As long as the result was unknown for sure everyone could pretend that the boy was actually getting better, that the daily tortures of the lasix had all been worth it and that they would be able to watch with tear-brimmed eyes the day he would walk out of the hospital under his own power. As unfortunate as it was, it simply wasn't meant to be.

A quick glance to his left had him slightly rattled. Eddy was a good friend of his, an old schoolyard pal that had been there for him through everything. Being as close as they were it was no surprise that Donavan knew exactly why the younger of them felt this way, why he stayed quiet and sadly at ease in the back of the room. Eddy had wanted to be a father. He had lost that opportunity once but ever since these two younglings had come into their lives the spark was back, stronger than ever – and it was a secret between them that the other nurse had planned on personally asking the Jedi Council permission to adopt young Djibourdi as his own should the boy not be seen fit to rejoin the Order. Now he wouldn't get that chance.

With a slight sigh Donavan turned himself back toward the holograms of the Jedi as Tocarra spoke, knowing of the conversation that would soon start up and exactly what kind of feelings it would invoke both among the Jedi and the three of them in this room.

"As hard as it is, sometimes things are out of my control," the doctor continued her discussion, the words from the past few moments lost to Donavan as he focused in again, "but as it stands I must ask you permission to do what I believe is necessary."

The only one of the Jedi who seemed to understand was Master Shaak Ti who shook her proud head in a negative response, giving out in a slightly horrified tone:

"He is too young, he is far to strong for that. There must be something else you can do."

"I'm afraid there isn't," Tocarra told her, "I have exhausted all of my knowledge, my colleagues' knowledge, texts, scriptures – we are at a dead end. This is the only humane answer-"

"Hold on!" Anakin's hologram suddenly blurted out, both gloved-encased hands raising in a gesture of quiet, "'Humane answer'? What are you talking about?"

There was a long silence as all of the Togrutans shared a look, all silently asking who should explain what the law was that they spoke of. In the end the doctor took over once again, her thin hands making a small gesture as she spoke as calmly as she could.

"On Shili, there is a right given to those whose loved ones are in…medical emergencies such as this. Since Djibourdi is far too young to make this kind of decision on his own, his guardians – being you – must give us permission to move forward. We have given him every chance possible. I have strained every resource I have to make him comfortable but as of right now he is dying… there is nothing more I can do for him."

Several eyebrows raised in question to the rather bizarre description, the statement obviously clearing nothing up for the group just yet.

"Please, what exactly are you asking permission to do?" Obi-Wan questioned as his hologram leaned forward, a surprisingly shocked look glued to the normally stoic face (which, in Tocarra's mind, meant that he must have drawn the right conclusion).

"I am asking for your permission to end his suffering. I need you to authorize for us to have him humanely put down."

To say that Anakin was stunned would have been the understatement of any year – to say that he was about to be ill was a fact that he could hardly ignore…but he found his voice regardless, his gut finding the strength that his heart could not as it forced his words our of this throat in a hoarse question that he could hardly comprehend.

"You have got to be kidding me."

Almost all of the eyes present, both hologram and live alike, turned to him.

"I do not joke, Master Skywalker."

"You would kill him?"

"Anakin, please," Obi-Wan spoke to him, but failed to halt the flurry of words.

"After all he's been through you would kill this kid?"

"Master Skywalker –" Tocarra began and got cut off.

"Eddy, remember what you told me?"

No response came from the stoic Togrutan in the back of the room who continued to hang his head. His eyes remained shut although his hands clasped tightly into fist where they hidden in between his arms that were about his chest, his jaw setting firmly inside his mouth.

"You said you would do anything to help them – you said that this kid meant everything to you and now you're willing to kill him?"

"He is dying," the doctor entered the conversation forcefully, finally stopping Anakin's momentary tirade and giving some much-needed cover to her now-upset colleague, "The child is suffering. He has progressively gotten worse by the day and now the poor thing can only cry – and he is even having trouble finding the energy to do that. There has never been a person who has survived form two and every single one of their deaths was excruciating – strokes, aneurisms, seizures, heart failure – he is in pain and we are not able to give him morphine or codeine or anything else. I have six separate IV lines in this boy – a glucose bag, a fluid bag, antibiotics, calorie suppliers and none of it is helping him anymore. You must realize that the last moments of his life he will be in more pain that you can imagine. This is the only humane decision we can make for him, as hard as it is."

"You spoke of possible cures the last time we held council," Master Kenobi spoke up, "Are these not an option?"

"Possible cures, yes, but not a single one has ever been tried before," Tocarra explained, her voice beginning to get desperate, "All of those are theories, most of which I have myself. There is no way to simulate or create Endrati in a laboratory setting so we have no idea whether or not any of those will even help. Those were speculations based purely on what I have been able to observe first hand and have been able to research. In order for me to even consider them I would need the survivor of Endrati and I don't even know if she is still alive – the odds are slim that we would even find her in time, let alone that she'd be willing to help."

The implications were cut and dry – it was experimentation on a basic scale. There was a one-third chance nothing would happen, a one-third chance that something good would happen, and a one-third chance that something bad would happen. Odds were odd whether any of them liked it or not and as of that moment the odds were against them.

"There must be another option," Master Secura spoke up, "What of padawan Tano?"

Tocarra shook her head.

"I'm afraid it's too early for us to tell whether or not Ahsoka has responded to the treatment. In a day or two I will be able to get preliminary results and make a judgment call on her progress but until then I'm afraid the boy is the main issue."

A meditative quiet filled the room while the Jedi mulled, Anakin preferring to put one hand over his mouth and grasp his jaw, trying to keep himself as far under control as he possibly could through his outrage. Mace Windu spoke after a moment, his eyes sharing a glance with Master Yoda as if to silently ask permission to speak.

"Explain to us how this procedure would work," he ordered to the doctor, snapping his head in Anakin's direction when the other human blurted out:

"You can't honestly be considering this!"

"Anakin!" Obi-Wan ordered with a glare, "Enough! We must make a just decision based on the facts presented to us and we must do so with the child's best interest in mind!"

"This is a child, Obi-Wan! A kid – someone who has never even been told that he's cared about! And you want to kill him when he has no idea what's going on?"

"Anakin, we have to make the just choice. Easy or not it is a decision that we must take into consideration. You must not let your emotions control you."

The two had a small staring contest before Anakin finally conceded defeat and turned away, giving Obi-Wan his cue to calmly prompt the doctor on.

She spoke quietly in an effort to detach herself emotionally from this – it wasn't an easy conversation.

"It is essentially death by lethal injection. The solution is a cocktail of different forms of anesthetics that are potent enough to completely shut down brain function without prompting any nerve response. To make it as comfortable as we can all IV lines and catheters will be removed save one, which will be the injection point of the solution. This way he is not stuck with another needle and there is no pain involved whatsoever."

"This is painless?" Windu clarified to which he received a nod.

"Yes – the dosage is given in two steps. The first simply puts the person to sleep and the second is what overpowers the brain function. He will go to sleep and not wake up – it is completely painless."

"This isn't right," Anakin spat, his voice holding a treble of warning that Tocarra responded to just as harshly.

"It may not be right but it is the only humane thing to do. In the end the decision lies with you and your council – I merely present the options. The choice is yours."

"And what if Ahsoka has form two?" the young Jedi spat, "You would ask me to kill her? It's just sick!"

"Skywalker, this is not your call to make. You are out of line," Windu warned him.

"My call or not I think I'm the only voice of reason here! You can't kill someone like that, especially not a kid! He deserves whatever life he has left, no matter how long!"

"And if the child dies in pain we will have to question how just our decision was," the Master responded, "As Jedi we must make the human decision."

The look on Anakin's face told them all that he hardly agreed with any part of this conversation, but surprisingly he knew when to not push the gauntlet anymore.

"A meeting, we will hold. Inform you on our decision we will," Yoda told the doctor as wisely as he normally did, to which Tocarra bowed her head.

"As you wish, Master Jedi. I hope that –"

Her sentence would forever hang in the air, woefully incomplete as it was joined by the sound of sprinting feet as the three Togrutans flew out of the conference room and down the hall, past the other aids who jumped out of the way with their patients and supplies. Ahsoka's fearful screams had them diving into the room like people possessed, Donavan swiftly sliding shut the curtain between the two beds as the other two MOs dove behind it, all trying to gain the upper hand as Djibourdi's body shook and contorted through the grips of the seizure.

The doctor tried to remain in control through it all, calling out orders to her second in command who followed them swiftly as well as using her best calming voice to try and soothe the terrified youngling who, with wide eyes, stared at her throughout the ordeal. It was until about ten seconds later that the seizing finally relented and, with relief, Tocarra put a cool hand on the small forehead and went to speak only to stop dead at the small scent that entered her nostrils. She of all people knew that smell was familiar – she knew she had encountered it before. Her analytical brain broke down the situation bit by bit until it drew a logical conclusion and she could feel in her heart that her face betrayed the calm she tried to present. She knew exactly what it was.

"Eddy, go get me a glucose meter – quickly."

Like a shot the man was gone, leaving the tense air-filled room as fast as he could. On the other side of the curtain Ahsoka wheezed into the small breathing mask Donavan had supplied while he spoke to her. It was the only thing he could do to avoid having her break out into a full-fledged panic attack due to the sudden increase of adrenaline in her system – and even he, through his adrenaline daze and self-appointed job, could hear young Djibourdi on the other side of the curtain. The whimpers weren't even whimpers anymore, only small burst of squeaking air below the level voice of Tocarra who spoke as flat as she could in their native tongue, knowing that the child understood every word.

Just as soon as he had left Eddy returned, dashing into the room and opening the black cloth case around the glucose meter swiftly, loading a testing strip into the meter while Tocarra had retrieved an alcohol wipe and rubbed one of the little fingers clean. Djibourdi seemed oblivious to it all, the straining air forcing his lungs to cooperate through his panic and fear. The boy didn't remotely jump when the lancet pierced his finger or when the small bit of blood was sucked into the strip – it was the mortified look on the two adults' faces and Eddy suddenly embracing him in a grip of grief that brought the tears along.

**IOIOIOIOI**

The End. NOT! Next installment should be up in a while once I figure out how I want to start it.

Thanks for reading, please review, and be safe everyone!

Happy Writing,

~Eliana


	16. Risky Choices

Wow…a one-day turn around. Eh, when you have a lot of time and the mood hits, write. You know, I'm kind of biding my time waiting for Friday to arrive (then I get to go spend the weekend with my boyfriend – because yes, Heaven forbid I am actually dating now) so I just decided to keep writing. This one was an easier one to write than the previous chapter and I hope you all enjoy it. Thank you all for your reviews.

…I'm not gonna bother typing out the disclaimer or warning anymore. Ladies and gents if you haven't figured that out yet I'm sorry to say you're a bit slow on the uptake. No offense, guys.

Read, review, and enjoy everyone.

Happy Writing,

~Eliana

**IOIOIOIOIOIOI**

There was no person or creature alive that could move Eddy from where he sat perched on the hospital bed, the young boy who rightfully belonged there curled against the older chest and stomach as he rocked through an unwilling slumber. The adult continued to rub his fingers on the thin neck beneath the little lekku, his eyes occasionally floating from the boy to the window and then back to the child again. Had the curtain between the children's beds been open and Ahsoka actually been present (she had been taken for about an hour by some of the nurse's aids to take a bath) he would have watched her too, but his stubbornness at the moment only had room for the little youngling he held so close to him. He had made up his mind hours ago about what he was going to do, and now that Djibourdi was asleep and surprisingly content despite the situation he faced, Eddy knew he had made the right call.

Donavan knew what he had decided and, being the man he was, hardly agreed with it. It was this disagreement that found the nurse at the very bedside the other two Togrutans found refuge in, watching with tired eyes the scene that presented itself before him in heart-breaking reality.

"You can't do it, Ed," Donavan whispered to him without moving his eyes from the boy in his friend's arms, "You know it's not right."

"Whether it is right or wrong they have no right to punish him for their insecurities," was the response, the other voice oddly level and calm despite the man's obvious anger. It was an effort to keep his voice low, but he had no desire to wake his young charge from the only rest he had gotten in days.

"Eddy," came the murmured response while Donavan crouched low next to the bed, putting his gaze lower than his friend's, "If the Jedi order it you know that we have to follow it."

"Look at him, Don."

"Ed-"

"Look at him!" the calm voice rose then with a hint of a growl and his friend obeyed, letting his eyes settle once again on the momentarily-peaceful face that rested on the other adult's chest, "You cannot tell me that you would put that drug inside of him and end his life on an order from some power-hungry maniacs."

"We can't help him," Donavan whispered to him, looking into the eyes of his partner, "Eddy I – I know how you feel. I love the kid too. But…he's beyond our help, brother. We can't do anything for him anymore –"

"That's a lie and you know it, Don. You have never given up on anyone before, why start now?"

"Because I hate to see you hurting like this," came the light response which made the younger of the two turn his gaze away and back to the child, "Ed, I know how much you want this to work out but you of all people know that sometimes people are beyond help. He's in the last stage now, I don't think anything we do is going to do anything good for him. If the Jedi order it, we have to do it... and I don't think they're going to order a stay."

"If they don't I'm gettin' him outta here," Eddy told him matter-of-factly, continuing to rub his fingers under the little lekku and on the small thigh under the blanket.

"For Heaven's sake, Ed, you know what that would do –"

"They are not puttin' that stuff into him," was the snarl, "as the spirits as my judge, I will fight every person here if I have to. He is not gonna to die by their hand. If they order this for him and Ahsoka is form two then they will order it for her too – they are not gonna die here."

"Eddy –"

"No, Don!" came the sudden shout and, when the younger of the pair turned to look at his friend, Donavan was horrified to see a tear fall from the normally warm eyes, "I will not stand by and watch this. Dji has diabetes now – but he can live with that. He and Ahsoka have lived through too much for this – I will not live in regret the rest of my life and try and explain it to our creator when I die that I stood by helplessly watchin' this happen!"

"Hey," Donavan comforted quietly, getting to his feet and letting one arm snake around his friend in a means to draw him closer and rest his chin on the other's head, "You have got to remove yourself, Eddy. You have to do what is right by him, you know that."

"I know that he has a right to live."

"Do you want him to live like this for the rest of his life? Hmm? Look, I know…I know how you feel, alright and I'm sorry you have to go through this. But when Tocarra comes back in here with the Jedi's orders we have to carry them out. We can end his suffering now, not make him go through more."

"There is a reason he's still alive," Eddy murmured, not moving from his comfortable spot, "If he was meant to die he would have died by now."

"…if you take him from this hospital you know they'll send you to prison – you'll be in there for the rest of your life –"

"If that's what it's gonna to take for me to know that I tried then I'll do it in a heartbeat," Eddy ground out, "Whether these kids have minutes or days or years left and they have to go through this and I have to hold them like this every second of that time I will. I am not givin' up on them. Not yet."

Whatever response Donavan had conjured up was cut short when a soft puff of breath was released from the child in Eddy's arms. The honey-colored eyes were now awake and searching around with urgency, finally setting on his holder's face and it was then that a frown creased the exhausted face as he finally settled.

"Hey Dji," Eddy spoke to him, hastily wiping off the tear-trail on his face and giving the child a shaky smile, "I didn't mean to wake you up, lene – you go back to sleep now."

The young head shook the negative, demanding eyes jumping up to Donavan who reached his free hand out to calmly pat the boy's head.

"You don't worry about old Eddy, big guy. I got him. We're just having a discussion is all. "

One eyebrow quirked and both adults couldn't help but chuckle at the disbelieving look.

"It's fine, I promise. Go on back to sleep now."

That response seemed to appease the child's demands seeing as, after a moment, he put his head back down and curled up a bit more and slowly fell back into his sleep. There was a long moment with no voice floating on the air and not one person moved – until yet another body joined the others in the hospital room.

Tocarra slowly walked her way into the space with her clipboard in hand, stopping at the foot of the bed and placing the piece of plastic down on the mattress and running a hand over her head before she drew the other M.O.s' eyes.

"I told the council about the type one diabetes," she started, tearing the scene in front of her apart with precision, "I had to, by law. They made a decision."

Never before had Eddy held his breath for so long, and Donavan's tightening arm around his back constricted his breathing ever-so-slightly more.

"They ordered a stay."

He could breathe again – he could breathe but his body had gone numb through the pumping adrenaline and he had no recollection of making the decision to bring Djibourdi closer to him. Donavan let out his own breath of relief and shook his friend slightly, keeping his eyes on the sleep-locked child.

"…you alright, Eddy?" Tocarra asked after a moment and only got a nod. No witty comeback, no playful innuendo, no stupid-looking grin of joy – just a nod with eyes shut and arms wrapping around his charge.

She gave a sad breath.

"What do they want us to do?" Donavan broke the silence after a moment.

"They are in contact with senator. They said that they want me to test my theory of marrow transfer – but I have no idea where this woman is or if she's even alive anymore. I don't know how much time we have to work with here but if anyone can make it work it's the senator."

She was quiet for a moment.

"What do you want us to do until then?" Eddy suddenly spoke, his voice quietly and tenderly set in its normal baritone so he would not wake Djibourdi again.

"We play it by ear. My job now is to keep both of these two alive by any means necessary. They're going to be under a twenty-four hour watch – any change of any kind is to be dealt with swiftly and the threat removed as fast as mortally possible. To try and keep everyone set I have some favors I need to ask of the two of you."

She now had both of their attentions so she continued, her tone surprisingly comforting as she slowed her speak down to annunciate her words.

"I know this is hard. Especially on you," she pointedly looked at her second in command, no disappointment anywhere in her voice, "I know it's upsetting, but if we're going to make this work I need both of your help. I need you to keep a level head. If at any point it becomes too much you are free to leave, I won't hold it against you – but not a word of any of this reaches the children."

She smiled then when her colleague wiped his face with one hand, allowing his friend who stood next to him to give him a one-armed hug,

"Take a few minutes, pull yourself together, and then I need you two to go to work."

That was when she snapped back into professional mode, straightening herself and sharpening her voice.

"Donavan, I need you to go and check on Ahsoka. As soon as the aids are done with her she needs to be brought back here and wired back up. Give me a call as soon as she is and I will go ahead and administer the round of lasix to her. Tomorrow morning I am going to draw blood and make a duty call on her progress. Eddy."

Her focus shifted to him.

"You have the sharpest eyes of all of us. I'm going to go down to the records department and pull that file from the last victim we had those years ago – my memory is good, but it isn't photographic. I need you to scrutinize that file for me and record any correlations you find between that case and these two. Any connection at all will be helpful."

"Do you want me to come with you?" Eddy inquired.

"No," Tocarra nodded to the sleeping child, "He won't get any sleep if you leave. I'll bring the file to you. Maybe it'll preoccupy him a bit to look it over with you."

Surprise colored the handsome face of her apprentice for a moment but, when she gave him an all-too-subtle smile, he felt on start to creep its way onto his own life-hardened face.

"I'm going to go ahead and check on young Ahsoka," Donavan announced to them both and he slid away, swiftly making his way out of the room and down toward the therapy center that resided a ways away.

"And I'm going to go grab that file," Tocarra told the remaining MO, turning on her heel and making her way toward the door only to be stopped cold when he called to her.

"Tocarra."

"Hmm?"

She turned back around to meet his gaze.

"For what it's worth, and…it may not mean a lot but… I think you're making the right call."

And for once, she smiled fully, and gave him a joyful look that reminded him so much of their younger days when they were all still full of joy.

"It means a lot, Eddy. And I think so too."

Like that she was gone, leaving her old friend and his charge in peace. Djibourdi, even in his sleep, seemed to sense the calm and started to gently hum in the lowest part of his lungs, making the nurse who held him laugh deeply and vibrate the sleeping body. This child was special. Ahsoka too.

No mistakes to be made, he told himself, he was grateful that he didn't have to break the law and take the children, but even if he would have had to make that choice he would have done it without hesitation. He had no dependents so they worst that would have happened would have been jail, but for these two it was worth it.

His laugh had startled awake the youngling he held and Djibourdi clicked twice, looking around with a bit of confusion as to why the room was mostly empty in spite of earlier. A little bit of shifting allowed him to look at Eddy's face and the man smiled, calmly patting his back.

"You just keep waking up, hmm?" he questioned and received a tired blink in response, "You need to sleep for longer than twenty minutes at a time, boo."

Djibourdi huffed and moved one of his hands closer to Eddy's curling his smaller fingers around two of the adult's – and they wriggled slightly in the loose grasp.

"If you don't wanna sleep do you wanna help me read something?"

The child clicked a few times.

"We gotta read a file Tocarra's gonna bring us and we gotta find some clues in it. It's a puzzle. You like puzzles, Dji?"

A weak nod.

"Then you'll be my other eyes. And if Ahsoka wants when she comes back she can be too."

He got a few squeaks and he chuckled as he watched the boy become mesmerized with his larger fingers encased in the boy's own. Somehow the smallest things amused this boy despite the obvious intelligence brimming in the back of his mind, and it was an immense relief that there was at least something he could distract himself with. Numbered days or not – if this was the way Djibourdi would live he didn't think the boy could give many complaints. 

**IOIOIOIOIOIOI**

Hope you all enjoyed it. Please review and feel free to PM me any time you wish.

Many blessings to all of you.

Happy Writing,

~Eliana


	17. Desperate Quests

Aaalrighty ladies and gents, I have re-emerged from my rabbit-hole for a day and have brought you a new chapter. You see, now that I have a job I work as many hours as I possibly can to put a barrier between myself and the inevitable not-so-happy ending that's coming. Buuuuut I won't bore you with the details. Instead, enjoy the chapter folks!

Same summary and disclaimer as always, I'm not going to waste time copy-pasting stuff on here.

Enjoy, everyone!

Yours,

~Eliana

**IOIOIOIOIOI**

She had read the same documents a hundred times by now… or maybe it was a thousand times…or a million – you see, Tocarra had read the same three files so many times in a row that she couldn't even tell how many times she had reread the same lines. Nothing had changed over the times she had read them, of course, but it was her overly-logical mind that ordered her to keep rereading the information to soak in as much as mortally possible so that she could pull a happy ending out of thin air. Eddy and Djibourdi had done well with the oldest file, going through and highlighting every single correlating line of the document and even adding notes on how the two cases (at that time being the oldest file and Djibourdi's) were alike. At that point Tocarra had dared to hope for a happy ending for at least young Ahsoka – only to have that little hope crushed like a fleeting little gnat only hours later.

Ahsoka had been quiet all afternoon once she returned from her bath and had been oddly compliant as Donavan had re-wired her to all of the machines that surrounded her hospital bed. Shortly after she took the lasix without complaint and had actually managed (though the doctor had no idea how) to sleep through the dialysis and hardly gave a mumble once it was done and she was tucked back in to the thick covers. The padawan slept deep that night unlike her younger roommate who remained awake, not too happy at the latest habit that the nurses had developed of pricking his fingers and using the small needles to give him insulin or making him swallow the disgusting glucose tablets – and of course it came as no surprise that so long as Eddy was present the boy was calm. Even off the clock the nurse stayed with his two favorite patients and kept watch over them, playing a rather complicated game of holo-chess with Djibourdi (who seemed to have a knack for it as the games would ending typically less than fifteen turns with the child the victor) and allowing Ahsoka to sleep as long and as deep as she could without anything disturbing her.

Before the morning shift even began Tocarra had come and drawn the girl's blood while she sat eating breakfast without much enthusiasm, both the doctor and the nurse over-eager to learn the truth about Ahsoka. They had believed as deeply as they could that the older padawan had responded to the treatment and that she was at least a little better than the day she had arrived there.

With a great sigh Tocarra lowered her exhausted head onto her hands, letting the throbbing pain in her brain drive her a little bit for the moment… right now she was too tired to care. It had been almost twenty years since the teenage girl named Aarent had come through with lasix and then, the doctor recounted, she herself had still been an apprentice. Dr. Iou had the theory of using lasix on the teen and it had been there great fortune that it had worked, although not as quickly as they had hoped as the woman had entered the last stage and suffered the same side effect as Djibourdi and left them a diabetic – but she had lived. She had suffered with form one Endrati and she walked free. Now, unless they found her quickly, there was hardly a doubt in the doctor's educated mind that these two children would not be so lucky.

Two tired azure eyes looked back to Ahsoka's test results that had emerged from the lab not two hours ago. She had form two, there was no mistaking it. She had a lucky break in that she held less of the infected cells than her counterpart but there was no denying that the infection had spread through her body in the days since she had arrived. All this time, Tocarra berated herself while she dug her fingernails deep into her palms, all this time she had caused pain to these two children – forced Djibourdi to endure needles being pushed into his neck, made Ahsoka endure the hours of having the sores on her body cut open and drained, ordered the two to bear it in good will as long as they could…all this time she had done this and in reality, all she was doing was injected a chemical as useful as water into their bodies. She had done them no good at all.

And as if that weren't enough, the senator decided to send her a hollow message detailing the mission he had set up with his troops to find the healed woman from before. Then, he had told her, in good humor of course (which made her blood boil) that he had just so happened to let a bit of this slip to the media and that now these two kids were the focus of the entire planet. By law the reporters couldn't enter the hospital but one glance out a window from any side of the building showed the herds of media just outside the hospital property line, all the cameras and camcorders pointed at the building as they talked to the masses at home. Any break from the war would coat the planet like a thing gone mad and with these two being Jedi, it made it all the more important to them.

What was it with reporters?, Tocarra asked herself as she rubbed her temples to try and ease her migraine, they took one or two people's worst moments and shoved it in the face of every person who was stupid enough to sit still and listen. It was for that reason that the doctor had requested a lockdown with her administrator and, thank the Force, he had immediately agreed. Of course that meant no employee could leave the grounds without an escort, but it also meant that the faces of the kids would stay off of mass communications – bounty hunters had an easy enough job as it was at the moment and giving them living, breathing, Jedi targets was not something that the woman planned to do.

…what was she going to do? What could she do? What if she was totally wrong about all of this and this plan bit the dust too? What if Aarent was dead? What if she didn't volunteer to this transfer? And if she did, it was far too dangerous to remove that much marrow twice from the same person – if they only got one donation they would have to pick which child to save…how could she condemn one of them to death?

Her head gave a violent throb and the doctor unwillingly groaned, squeezing her eyes shut to block out the blue light of the hollow files for at least a moment. She jumped when a familiar hand gripped her shoulder and she turned to find both of her assistants there, Donavan gripping her shoulder and Eddy holding a tray which he put on the table in front of her. Without a word he handed her two orange pills and one of the steaming cups of caff, handing another to Donavan who sat across from him before grabbing a couple pills for himself as well. He downed them with a sip of the caff, making sure Tocarra did so as well before he gave a sigh.

"My ship leaves in about an hour," He told them both with no emotion, letting his forehead hit his hands on the table with a dull 'thud'.

"Don't do anything crazy, Ed," the woman warned him wearily, though she knew whatever she was going to say would eventually fall on deaf ears, "You're one person. The senator has sent out his own personal guard to find Aarent, until they find her there's nothing you can do. What's your plan? Go door to door?"

"If I have to."

The inevitable lull in the conversation fell then, all three sets of eyes downcast or closed in exhaustion and frustration, none of them willing to say the ending that they all were very aware could happen.

"I have to try," Eddy spoke again, his voice muffled by his cloth-covered arms that padded his head from the table, "Two more eyes can't hurt. I have a hunch on how I can find her and I have to try it."

"You're one man."

At that two sharp eyes finally looked back up to his two colleagues, and in that moment – that perfect moment encased in time – they all understood that he was leaving regardless of what they had to say.

"You know better than everyone else that in this war the Jedi have had to risk their lives and their children for a lot of stupid reasons. This one time is the only time that makes sense to me to do the same for someone else. I'm leaving the grounds in ten minutes with a guard escort, and then I'm going to where I think she may be. Be praying that I'm right – if I'm wrong, the story ends here. No happy ending, no happily-ever-after, no joyful reunions. I have to make this work."

Before his colleagues could respond the man had left the room, strutting with purpose back to where he had left Djibourdi curled up in his bed and young Ahsoka staring aimlessly at the wall in front of her. Had he left only two seconds later he would have heard the very soft:

"I know you will, Eddy."

It was supported only for a second on the still air before it dissipated in a silent poof.

The children were as he left them, their positions unchanged despite the curtain that had been drawn in between them to keep whatever sense of calm the staff could manage in the room existent. With a thick gulp of air the nurse mad it to Ahsoka's bed, lowering one of the walls and sitting calmly on the edge of the blanket mound that covered her. She didn't bother to even glance at him as he sat, and was determined to sit in dead silence for the longest moment before she whispered what she already knew.

"You're leaving, right?"

Eddy had to swallow harshly to bring him voice back, his brain scolding him for not drinking more of his caff before trying to use his voice again. When it did emerge it was soft and husky, as if he had been sleeping for days and had yet to speak until this moment.

"Yes."

When Ahsoka still refused to look at him, he found himself at a loss of what to say or do.

"Ahsoka, I – I don't know what else to do. I have to do what I can while I can."

She surprised him when she suddenly sniffled and out of unconscious reaction he reached over to lay one hand on her head.

"This isn't how I imagined myself dying," she told him harshly, eyes still fixed on the blankets that covered her, "I thought it would be different. I thought I'd die on the battle field with Master Plo, or Anakin, or Master Obiwan there – I thought that I could die the way the Chosen One's padawan should, going down in a blaze of glory while pulling off some impossible mission or something…. I didn't think I'd die in some hospital bed because of some stupid disease I can't control."

"You are not going to die," Eddy told her, "not here."

"So you know when I'm going to die?"

It was such a naive thing that left her mouth that Eddy's brain froze for a second before jump-starting again, forcing him to pick and choose what he said.

"No…of course not. No one does. No one knows when they're going to die, Ahsoka."

She met his eyes then, and he felt his own blood run cold when she told him her next statement.

"Djibourdi says he's going to die here."

All the man could do was open and close his mouth for a long second like a pet fish out of its tank before he whispered back to her.

"Djibourdi told you this?"

"Uh-huh. Not in words."

"…then how do you know that's what he said?"

"….it's kinda like the Force," she told him honestly, "I don't understand a lot, but I understand enough."

They both jumped when a knock came on the open door, a guard standing tall with a large blaster in hand being the creator of the sound.

"A thousand pardons," came the man's voice through his helmet, "but we need to be leaving soon."

"Of course, please forgive me," the nurse told him, "I lost track of time."

As he went to stand he suddenly stopped cold, looking at the white curtain that blocked his view from the other youngling who resided in the room. A long moment later Eddy glanced back to the guard, stating quietly:

"May I have just one more minute?"

"Of course, sir," was the quick response and the guard was gone again, leaving the three Togrutans to their own devices once again.

Without a word Eddy suddenly leaned forward and planted a kiss on the cold forehead of Ahsoka, making her blink in confusion at the sudden show of affection once his eyes met hers again.

"Be a good girl, keep an eye on Dji… just be strong for me," he told her, and could hide his smile when she allowed him to give her one last hug before he jumped off the bed and hooked the wall back in place, giving himself a moment to mentally prepare before heading to the other side of the curtain.

Djibourdi hadn't moved since the man had left earlier, Eddy observed and, as a matter of fact, it looked as though he was so zoned out that he had missed the entire conversation that the elder had shared with the other padawan just seconds ago. Even through the nurse lowering the wall around one side of his bed, sitting on his mattress, and reaching over to stroke his back the child didn't move. It was only when Eddy knelt to the ground to be at eye level did the reaction come, and with the sharp hiccup the adult knew that the child was aware of the conversation he had just had with Ahsoka.

"I'm sorry," was all he could think to say, and it obviously didn't help the boy who broke into bitter tears, angry at his own weakness as he betrayed his instincts and training by reaching his arms out to grab a hold of Eddy.

Without hesitation it was returned.

"You wait for me," the nurse whispered fiercely to the living skeleton, giving him a firm squeeze while praying he wasn't hurting him, "I WILL be back. You wait for me."

Although he could hear his own heart shattering into a million pieces the man calmly forced the boy to release hhis grip around his neck, laying the little body back onto the pillows.

"You wait for me," he told the child one last time, pressing firm kisses on the bony cheeks and forehead whispering a promise to him and giving him one last kiss before he backed away.

He had no idea how he did it, but somehow or another he ignored the gasping whines from the child as he stood, letting Donavan sneak behind him and try to calm the near-hysterical boy who weakly reached out to him. It was all for nothing as the man still left, gesturing to the guard outside the room that they needed to go at that moment or not at all. They weren't joking when they said that nothing compared to the pain of a broken heart.

He only had one hunch on where to find this woman, and it was just a wild hunch that some invisible entity had put into his mind – but he was going. Now.

**IOIOIOIOIOIOI**

There we go, yet another twist to add to the story. I still have a few more up my sleeve, and I won't give away any secrets. ;)

You'll just have to keep reading and find out what I mean.

As always, feel free to PM me any time and please review, but no flames guys. I get enough negative junk at work. Yay retail!

Happy Writing,

~Eliana


	18. Holy Find

Yay! Next chapter up! Hopefully it won't take me too long to do the next one. I won't go into the details of the things going on here, just know that there's a very good reson why these chapters are so delayed.

I am SO not going to keep writing out the disclaimer and summary on every chapter – I hope by now you guys know all that I'd have to say anyway. No stealing, please and thank you very much.

Enjoy guys, If I was to shoot a guess I'd say we're abouuuttt three-quarters done, give or take. And before any of you ask, no I will not tell you how it ends or who does or does not die and all that stuff. Have to protect my review quota, after all. ;)

Please read, enjoy and review – and do NOT flame me. Many thanks!

…..oh yeah. Just an fyi, I lost my flash drive with all of my old chapters on it (I know it's in my room somewhere but I keep my room so clean I tend to hide things from myself) so I know there are mistakes in here like greetings (probably spelled wrong) and species (probably spelled wrong) and I am far too lazy to look it up. Just so you know.

Happy Writing,

~Eliana

**IOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOI**

"I'll be there tomorrow, Ahsoka," was the firm promise that cane through the communication device, the small red circle glowing with a familiar hot glow in the pale hand of the padawan, "I've already told the Council that if they have a problem with it that they can coach me later. Rex will be in charge once I leave in an hour."

"Master, there's no point," Ahsoka told him in a gravelly voice, "Nothing's changed. Just gotten worse… they need you in the field."

"YOU need me Ahsoka."

She was quiet then, grateful that they were not talking with a visual device so he couldn't see her obvious discomfort. Even without it, Anakin knew that silence from Ahsoka was never a good thing and, though he was grateful to have the Force flowing through him again, he was willing to give it up in a flat second to be with his apprentice in her time of need. She was just like him in a sense: you had to go through heck and back several times with Count Dooku on your back to get her to admit that she actually needed help or was upset.

The months of their training together had given Anakin an unfair advantage on that battle ground however, and he used it as often as he could. In this situation though, all he could do is give her reassurance and hurry to her.

"…I have to go for now, Snips. I'm going to finish everything here and then head out. I promise I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay, Master. May the Force be with you."

"And also with you, Snips. Anakin out."

With the inevitable soft click the communicator was turned off and the girl gave a sigh, lowering her hand that held the device down to her lap where it lay motionless for a very long moment. Turning her head to her right, she spied Djibourdi who remained curled up in his makeshift cocoon where he had pressed himself as hard into the left-hand bed wall as he could (in her mind, it was an effort from him to get as close to his only friend that he had left as possible). Though the golden eyes were covered in white eyelids she knew he wasn't asleep and had probably been listening to the conversation she had had with her master.

"I'm sorry, Dji," she told him, and earned his gaze, "I didn't mean for you to hear all that…I'm sure it doesn't help."

Djibourdi let out a soft rumbling sigh, pushing his eyes toward the ceiling before looking back to her again.

'It doesn't matter,' was the translation Ahsoka came up with, and she shook her head.

"He didn't keep his part of the bargain, you know," she told him in a moment of aimless rambling.

One eyebrow ridge rose on the younger face and the small lips pursed in uncertainty at exactly what she meant by her statement.

'Which part?'

"Sky Guy said he'd tell me about your Master. He didn't keep up his promise."

The golden eyes lowered again. Tears pricked the back of Ahsoka's eyes as Djibourdi made a weak moved to touch his bruised cheek, only to choose not to and sink deeper into the mountain of protective blankets that covered him in an effort to hide the black smudge that covered his face.

"It's okay," she tried to comfort him, "He's not like that."

A skeptical look pinned her down.

'They're all like that.'

"He's not - I promise. He's never been even close to that. It's not right."

A weak shrug was his only chosen response.

"No, it's not nothing, Dji. It's not nothing. You didn't do anything to deserve that."

A soft clicking met her ears and she resigned her argument, knowing that she wasn't going to get very much further with either of them like this. Both of them were in the finally recourses of their energy as it was anyway, and trudging onto that subject wasn't going to help either of them out at all.

"Alright, I'll let it drop…but only until after all of this mess is solved."

She didn't receive a response from her counterpart, only a dense silence that told her he was far from ready to reveal anything about whatever it was that had happened. Both of them looked to the door when a soft knock sounded, their eyes meeting the tired form of Tocarra who left her hand raised to the door.

"Good morning, guys," she greeted them, earning herself a weak smile and a blink in return, "I have a surprise for you."

It was never a good thing when an adult said 'surprise' in a situation like this – especially when both of the children were hooked up to multiple IV bags, heart monitors, and a whole assortment of other electronic gizmos that couldn't be named. The last time Tocarra had said she had a 'surprise' was when she had grabbed some bright-orange mush from the hospital cafeteria and brought it to their room. Ahsoka had been content to shape it with her plastic fork until it resembled a jiggly orange snowman and Djibourdi had just twitched his lip at Tocarra as if to say: 'You're kidding, right?'.

"It's not more of that snowman mush is it? Because if it is I don't want it," Ahsoka told her with a grumble, Tocarra giving a light-hearted chuckle in return.

"No, no," the doctor assured, "not that kind of surprise – and I resent that. I tried hard on that one. But no - you have a visitor."

"….a visitor?" Ahsoka pondered.

There was no way Anakin could get to the hospital that fast from Teth, and there was no real reason for Obiwan to venture out this far. As far as she was concerned, Ahsoka was sure the only visitors that she and Djibourdi would be getting were hospital staff and – Force forbid – a reporter eager for some sort of news.

"Yes," the woman told her with a gentle smile before turning her head and gesturing to the unseen person.

Soft booted steps sounded from around the corner, the even steps verhy familiar to Ahsoka's ears, but no matter how she tried she couldn't place…it couldn't be Anakin, probably not Obiwan…it could be…no, he wouldn't some out here for her… When he finally stepped into the room Ahsoka couldn't contain her happy gasp nor the smile that lit her face at the sight of her oldest friend and companion. The familiar red-brown skin, the mask covering his face, the proud stance, all of him – none of it had changed in the time they had been separated and Ahsoka's body numbed with joy.

"Master Plo!"

Behind his mask the Kel-Door smiled, giving a small bow to her and greeting her:

"Koh-to-yah, Little 'Soka."

He crossed the room with the dignity that only he possessed, accepting her hand in his with a soft squeeze, giving his nod to Tocarra who excused herself.

"It is good to see you, Little 'Soka," her old friend told her warmly, reaching his other hand out to lay it atop her head.

"It's good to see you too, Master Plo," she whispered to him, barely restraining herself from hugging him for all she was worth. The now-familiar fatigue settled heavily on her and she told herself that kind of motion was best reserved for later, "What are you doing here? Don't you have battles?"

"None amongst the droids that the clones cannot handle," he assured her, giving one more stroke to her head before slightly turning his head to spy Djibourdi.

The millisecond the shielded eyes fell on him the boy flinched down, certain in his over-stressed mind that he somehow blended into the multiple colors of his blankets. Obviously it was a foolish assumption and the boy knew it, so he chose to lay still – as still as a small, furry mammal under the gaze of a starving predator – pressing his head as deep into the cloths as he could, never once blinking.

"Master Plo, this is Djibourdi," Ahsoka told him, though she was sure no introductions needed to be made, "Dji, this is Master Plo. He's a really nice Jedi, and a really good friend of mine."

Her reassurance fell on deaf ears and Djibourdi stayed pressed into his make-shift tent. Plo released his hold on Ahsoka and moved to the foot of the hospital bed, ensuring that he was in full view of the other child..

"Hello little one," Master Plo greeted, knowing enough of the boy's adversity to stay where he was and not approach.

His only response was a soft nicker under the young breath and Djibourdi kept his eyes on the Master, not moving a centimeter from his observing spot.

"Sorry, Master Plo," Ahsoka apologized for her new friend, "He does that with everybody…I don't really know why though."

"He has his reasons, Little 'Soka," the Jedi promised cryptically, sending the younger padawan a look of warmth before shaking his head at the question he knew Ahsoka was about to ask, "I will not tell you about it now, Ahsoka. This is not the time or place."

"Yes Master," she grumbled, crossing her arms as best as she could, adding to herself mentally: 'I don't think anyone's going to tell me anything. This is so frustrating!'.

"Be calm Ahsoka," Plo ordered, and chuckled at her astounded look, "Force or no Force, I know you. Patience has never been your strong point."

She puffed her cheeks out at him then, knowing that she really shouldn't but enjoying the time she had with him while it lasted. With Eddy having been gone for over a day and none of the others as willing as he to join in the playful banter, she had to take advantage of it while she could. Djibourdi was a good roommate to have, but he was so different from Barriss and all of her other friends that Ahsoka was a little at a loss of what to really do with him – having someone who was a little more familiar around was a breath of relief.

The Master came back to her bedside, studying her for a long moment, then turning to study Djibourdi (who was doing pretty well at setting a record of becoming a breathing rock for an extended period of time), and then finally out the big window at the end of the room.

"Master Plo?"

"Yes, Ahsoka?" was the even-toned response, the Jedi elegantly turning his head back to her in observation of her call of attention.

"No one else has gotten sick, have they?"

"No, young one. Everyone else is fine."

"Good."

Cerulean eyes looked at the IV lines in her arms as her mind wandered.

"I don't want anyone else to go through what we're going through. ….Master?"

"Yes, Little 'Soka?"

She was quiet for a long moment while she drew her breath, trying to find the right words to use so she wouldn't anger her friend nor scare Djibourdi into a more upset state than he already was.

"….What do you suggest we do? We can't meditate in the Force, we can't feel it…and I don't like feeling…helpless."

She looked up to him.

"I mean, what else can we do? I think I'm going to go stir-crazy in here."

"The Force is everywhere, Ahsoka," was the promise from the Master, the wise mind formulating the best response, "Whether or not you feel it around you is never the evidence that it does not exist – whether there is a breeze on a desert planet does not prove that the air does not move. The Force is here, and you are able to use it."

It was then that he looked to Djibourdi, the two sets of eyes locking as the Master continued.

"You are both of a noble race, one of the strongest people to have ever been born of the Force. Limits are no longer limits, the weaknesses of one does not define the people. You are both stronger than you give yourselves credit for…stronger than you have yet to understand. Be willing to listen, and the Force will guide you."

"But Master," Ahsoka questioned him, "I thought the Force didn't exist on this planet. That's why you and Master Skywalker, and the other masters couldn't use it."

"No, Ahsoka," the Master corrected, still keeping his eyes fixated on the younger of the pair for some reason, "The Force is here – stronger here than on many other planets. The region we are in is blood land – the Chosen were born in this land and became the first of the Togrutan people to use the Force, and that has continued on. Only those who are descendants of the Chosen may use this world's living Force, and only those who do may find the strength to defeat the shadow of death."

"…what does that even mean?" Ahsoka asked, and to that the Kel-Dor's face curled up in a smile as he turned to look at her.

"It will make sense in time, Little 'Soka. In time."

"Well do you have a time machine or something?"

"Patience, Ahsoka."

"I'm starting to really not like that word."

Plo's chuckled brought the familiar warmth back into her body.

From her spot at the door where she had been passing by, Tocarra gave a sad half-smile, forcing herself to keep walking to the filing room down at the end of the hallway. Truth be known she was sick to her stomach – whether it was the lack of sleep, the added workload of a few younglings from a speeder crash that had arrived that morning, the lack of the bubble nutcase that was Eddy, or the impending deaths that she was almost absolutely sure would come to pass, all she knew is that she could really do with some good news for once. The Jedi's arrival earlier in the day had been a surprise but it was just the distraction that Ahsoka had needed for a while. It made the woman sad that such a joy (no matter how small) couldn't happen for Djibourdi as well, but she prayed at every moment that whatever deity was out there would guide the two to health and happiness soon enough.

Eddy had left almost exactly thirty-six hours ago, and he had yet to comm on whether he had good news, bad news, no news, or anything, and that was a bit of an oddity for him. He had left in such a state of urgency and determination that the mother instinct in Tocarra's heart demanded to hear something from him, so she had even tried comm-ing him to see if he would respond that way. No luck.

That has to be the most frustrating part – not having news. Just in case (she would be amazed, but she was always prepared) she had an operating room reserved and some of her colleagues had come in from other hospitals across the region to prepare for an emergency high-risk marrow transfer should Eddy be successful. The chances of him actually finding the one single woman he was looking for was slim to none, even if she would stick out like a sore thumb amongst the crowds of colored-skin Togrutans.

Aarent was albino, Tocarra remembered, plopping her folder down on the counter top- that's one of the things that made her such a rare case. She had been in her late teens when she had shown signs of Endrati – another rarity considering that ninety-two of the hundred known cases occurred before age fourteen. All in all the woman had been a complete surprise patient, and it would be even more of a surprise if she was still alive and well and willing to save at least one life should the procedure be successful.

It was a shot in the dark, and Tocarra wasn't much one for taking chances in her field. Although she didn't have much of a choice in this particular situation, she knew all too well that if something went wrong that she would never be able to forgive herself.

With a great sigh she opened her folder and removed the hard-copies of the new lab results from a couple of boys in the teenage ward and handed them to the receptionist to be filed before bringing her fingers to her temples to try and message her headache away. This was insane. The clock was ticking, the padawans' times were quickly running out, herself and Donavan were completely exhausted, there were squads of guards at the hospital gates to control the reporters that swamped the property, there was no communication allowed with anyone on the outside, the chances of Eddy being successful were –

"TOCARRA!"

The shout came and she jumped, shipping into the main hall to see who had called for here. It came from toward the lift, and her eyes widened to the point of no return when she saw Eddy sprinting down the hall, a white-skinned woman hot on his heels.

She couldn't believe here eyes. How could Eddy have actually found Aarent?

**IOIOIOIOIOIOIOI**

Tada! There you have it. Hope you enjoyed, please review, and see ya next time.

Happy Writing,

~Eliana


	19. Coding Nightmares

Wooh-hoo! Chapter! This one's a bit longer than the others, but that's because some SUPER important happens in here. Read carefully!

Just a quick note: While I am CPR/First Aid certified and am a part-time PCA/CNA, I do NOT know how to do any kind of surgery nor deal with major medical problems. Everything written in here is pulled from my experiences, what I have read and researched, and what I have created. Do NOT try and use this to do any kind of medical procedure on your own. That is a hhuuuuggee no-no, okay? Most of this stuff I have created so that it will fit the context of the story, and it holds no real weight in the actual medical world. Okay? Okay.

And warning: this chapter contains mild descriptions of injections and surgery. If this bothers you, please do not read this chapter. Thank you!

Overall, enjoy guys. And do NOT send me hate-letters for what happens in this chapter. It's aaallll part of the master plan. (insert maniacal laughter here)

Happy Writing,

~Eliana

**IOIOIOIOIOIOIOI**

"We're taking an awfully large risk here, Tocarra," the older doctor warned her, the all-too-familiar edge of uncertainty strangling his normal, supple voice and turning it into a gruffer-sounding growl.

"I know," was her response from where she stood in front of him outside the emergency hall's doors, the two M.O.s separated from the rest of the waiting staff by the thick metal barriers, "but unfortunately right now we don't have much of a choice."

"A double donation from a single Togrutan donor is high-risk enough, but with this woman being diabetic it ups the challenge more."

"I realize, Reis."

"The woman may have consented, but we're looking at a risk of bone fragments reaching her heart, the anesthetic lowering her blood pressure to critical range –"

"I know, Reis," she began to edge out, leaning her head down a bit to grasp her nose between a thumb and a fore-finger to try and clear her head.

"And then there's your children – who knows if this infection could trigger a heart murmur or septic shock –"

Tocarra gave a gasping growl and then looked at him with a tight smile, quieting the elder with just one look. She was well aware of all of it he knew then, but couldn't quiet the voice in the back of his mind that told him something was going to go horribly wrong.

"We've just never done something like this before, Tocarra. No one has."

"…I know. I know. But it's their only chance, Reis. We don't have much of a choice right now."

"Are you sure this even stands a chance of working?"

"….I've done my research. If logic and reason are to play any part in this, then yes – it should work."

"And if not?"

She was quiet then, biting her lower lip and gathering her calm about herself to try and detach herself once again from the fates of her patients.

"If not, then we'll have a couple of bodies to deliver to the Jedi."

Reis studied her for a long moment. These weeks had pushed her to her limit, he could tell, and it didn't take very much for him to see it as clear as day. If it wasn't the bags under her eyes it was the sloppy way she held her stance – once standing tall and proud she now slightly hunched over, clipboard held protectively to her chest. After a long breath the surgeon finally nodded and gave a silent surrender, conceding to the situation and putting his trust in Tocarra's judgment.

"I need an internal call," he told her, switching straight back to business, "We only have one room reserved, the one the donor is currently in. Once my team is done withdrawing both donations from her she'll be moved to the ICU for a transfusion of her own. We can only take one of the younglings at a time in there; there isn't enough equipment to sustain them both at the same time. You know their entire health lines over the past couple weeks – you need to make the call. The procedure should only take about two hours if it runs smoothly, but time is of the essence here. I don't think I need to tell you that," he added with a slight bit of humor, to which he received a dry chuckle.

"No, definitely not. So what you're asking is: which of them is in the more dire need?"

"Essentially, yes," he clarified, shifting his weight from foot to foot, "but in essence I really mean 'Which one does not have the two hours to spare?'. They will both receive the exchange, but which one is in the most dire position right now that in the next two hours their fates could very well be sealed?"

It didn't take Tocarra very long to answer.

"Djibourdi. They're both in bad condition, but Djibourdi is on the edge as we speak – I'm amazed he's made it this long."

"This is the young male, correct? The diabetic?"

"Right."

Reis raised two fingers to his chin.

"Besides the Endrati and diabetes, what else do I need to focus my team on?"

"His blood pressure," Tocarra supplied quickly, opening the folder in her hands to supply a spreadsheet which was immediately accepted by the other Togrutan, "when he first came in it was near normal levels but now it's dropped down – we think it's caused by the continuous weight loss brought on by him not eating. We keep his blood sugar in check, but obviously without solid foods his body doesn't have the ability to render fat."

"If we put this boy under," Reis murmured aloud as he studied the chart he held in his hand, "He could go into cardiac arrest. It could drop his blood pressure so low that-"

"His heart will stop," Tocarra finished for him, "I know. But we don't have a choice."

Reis took a solidifying breath and handed her back the chart, reaching for his radio that was clipped to his belt.

"Eisla from ICU," he requested into it.

"_Go for said."_

"Have a pediatric cardiologist report to op room four A.S.A.P. to aid my anesthesiologist."

"_Will do."_

With that the surgeon clipped the device back to his belt, looking to his colleague for one final question.

"Can you handle this? There's no shame in backing out, you know."

"Come on, Reis," Tocarra teased half-heartedly, "You always taught me to stick it out, didn't you?"

He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Go take a break."

"Really, Reis, I'm fine. I can handle it."

"No."

He left no room for argument.

"Go take a break. Right now. And take Donavan with you," he added, seeing in her eyes what she knew had to be there because of the familiar biting sensation behind them, "I'm going to take Eddy just long enough to put the boy under and then he'll join you. Go."

Tocarra didn't move.

"That's an order. Go now or get written up."

Finally she conceded, relinquishing the folder into his waiting hands and bailing through the doors behind them. He followed rather quickly, looking straight to Donavan and, giving a slight jerk of his head, silently ordered the man to follow Tocarra (which he did with much less resistance).

Once the two were out of sight Reis took in the rest of the group, counting the heads of four of his six team members, two pediatric aids, and Eddy standing amongst the group awaiting orders from the man who stood in front of them. He didn't disappoint them.

"Here's how this is going to work," he began, handing the folder to his second in command, "Roland and Den are currently drawing the two donations from the donor in op room four. By the time we get everything taken care of they should be done and the first patient can go in for the exchange. Due to the lack of equipment we can only do one at a time, and Tocarra has opted that the young male named Djibourdi should be the first to go due to the health complications that endanger him more than the female."

He focused on two of his team members.

"Adaliz and Iris, you are both in charge of the anesthetics. This boy's BMI is currently labeled as emaciated so be sure to take every necessary precaution. We're going to put him down via an injection of Suracenine, but we can't use any of the IV lines he has right now since that injection requires body fat deposits to sink in. We're going to aim to put him under by sticking him on the back of his thigh – that's really the only spot I could see this working at right now. Melieda has the BMI/Basics chart and she'll be going with you. We'll bring him to prep room six. From what I understand he's quite adverse to any physical contact so only Eddy will handle him – it will be a stick and go situation."

They all gave their understandings, and Reis turned to Eddy.

"This is where you come into the picture. I know you're tired and quite drained right now – don't argue," he added in, cutting of the denial that was about to jump out of the other's mouth, "I know that you are and as soon as we get the child under I'm sending you to break just like the others. From what Tocarra told me, I understand that the child trusts you – so I need you there to keep him calm. We don't want to add any more stress to him than what's really needed, so I'm going to have you carry him down to prep room six and stay with him until he's out. Transferring him to a different gurney may not be the best idea in terms of him adversity to people, so I want you to keep a hold of him through that. Understand?"

"Yes sir," was the affirmative from Eddy.

"Go ahead and go disconnect all the lines – I'm going to send the two aids with you and all you two need to do is keep an eye on the female and get rid of the unnecessary bags left once we take this child."

They were off that quickly, leaving behind the surgeon and the remainder of his team. Never in his life had Eddy walked so quickly down that hall – so quickly that he might as well have been jogging since that's what the two aids behind him were having to do to keep up with his pace. The nurse hadn't seen his favorite patient since he left and, being successful in what he set out to do, he returned now more determined than ever to see to it that both of those kids walked out of the hospital under their own power one day. No one would ever hear from him that it was actually an accident when he found Aarent and that he actually hadn't slept since he left – no one.

When he entered the hospital room he was greeted with a happy smile from Ahsoka who received a hug from him, her happiness making him all the more aware of what was riding on the line.

"I'm glad you're back," she whispered weakly in his ear before letting go, allowing him to put a warm hand on her icy forehead.

"I told you I would be, silly girl," he gave her a soft tease, flicking her nose and making her giggle, "I need you to trust us for a few hours, okay?"

"Alright," she responded without a fight, feeling no need to put up an argument without Master Plo around. She had never been so grateful that her friend received an emergency comm before this moment.

"Be a good girl," the nurse ordered and then headed behind the curtain that divided the two beds, giving a quick gesture to the aides to stay behind.

Djibourdi lay still as he approached; not even allowing himself to blink as the walls around his bed were lowered and the adult knelt to the floor. It wasn't until the nurse gave the gentle clicking of his tongue did the boy react, squirming uncomfortably underneath the comforters on his bed and kicking his legs out to try and ease the painful tensing of his muscles.

"Shh, shh, lene," the adult whispered, moving to stroke the cold head, "It'll be alright now. Eddy's back, see?"

Djibourdi gave a hiccup, still moving to try and stretch his legs out further before immediately quieting when Eddy gently disconnected the first line from his arm. With widened eyes he watched each one of the painful needles get pulled from his flesh, and didn't respond even when the adult cooed to him to distract the child from him reaching under the mound of blankets to remove the thermometer. There was no reaction until the clear tubing that was taped to his head and fed slightly into his nostrils was slowly removed – and then the reaction was fear.

"Oh oh oh oh," Eddy whispered to him, using both arms to sweep off over half the layer of blankets and heating pads before lifting the emaciated boy and two of his coverings into his arms, swaying the child a bit as he stood, "You're okay – we're just gonna go for a walk is all."

That didn't do anything to quell the obvious fear pouring out of the boy – not since he had arrived had he been free of the IV lines and the mound of blankets and the uncomfortable tubes on his face – and even he knew he wasn't doing any better… they must be taking him away, away from this place and away from where nothing was working so he could die without the wailing of a heart monitor in his ears. The very thought terrified him and he tried to conjure the strength to move out of his protector's arms and run…but all he managed was an incredibly weak, sharp whine and a meager twitch of his arms in his own defense. Eddy took it as a sign to turn the boy around, easily shifting Djibourdi's meager weight so that the child lay with his head facing behind his supporter's body, two stick arms tossed tenselessly over the strong shoulders, and thin legs half-wrapped around the adult's hip. On purpose the nurse let one of the two covers drop harmlessly to the floor, leaving one around the thin body in his arms. Being sure that he had a good grip on the boy (via one arm around his back and one under the boy's non-existent rump) he kept up his swaying, humming in the bottom of his lungs and through his montrals, knowing by now that the vibrations would ease the boy's nerves. It worked like a charm as it always did with him, and the nurse gave a sigh of relief.

His whispered in Togruti to the child, knowing full well that the padawan understood his words, and gave him praise when he responded by bending his arms to weakly hold onto the adult's neck.

"You'll be just fine," the nurse promised hollowly, adding in a quick, silent prayer behind the statement, "We're just going to go for a walk, my little one. You and Eddy, that's all. A little adventure, just you and me. Sound good? Hmm?"

Djibourdi tried to nod his head but only managed to thump his cheek on the large collar bone that cushioned it. The message was clearly understood since Eddy planted a kiss between the two tiny montrals, finally reappearing from behind the curtain with his charge held securely in his arms. The nurse sent a look to Ahsoka and she remembered what he had said, giving him a weak smile.

"Hey Dji," Eddy whispered loud enough for Ahsoka to hear, turning to look at the weak head supported on his shoulder, "Can you wave bye-bye to Ahsoka for now? Hmm? Can you say bye-bye to Ahsoka?"

"Bye-bye, Dji," Ahsoka encouraged giving him a calm wave, letting out a genuine smile when the weakest of waves was given to her by the boy she had grown so fond of.

"Good boy," Eddy praised, giving one more smile to Ahsoka before taking even steps to leave the room.

It took everything in the man's control to not give in to his flipping stomach that demanded he vomit at the body he held in his arms – not the look or smell of the boy, but the way the skeleton felt suspended in his embrace. It felt as though he was carrying a corpse down the familiar halls toward the elevator, a corpse of a child who should have been dead by all accounts by now. If it wouldn't be for the intermittent shivers or the soft, sharp whines, the nurse could have sworn that the child _was_ dead… it was for that reason that he kept whispering hollow nothings to the child and purposely chose the emptiest corridors to walk down. Although the nursing staff had been well trained to hold any voice of horror regardless of the case, Eddy knew that allowing other children or any patient's parents see such a sight wouldn't do well to keep the calm needed for a hospital.

Almost none of the children here had seen death at such a young age and, although Djibourdi wasn't dead, just the sight of a person in such a condition could cause a bit of a panic throughout the area. He counted himself lucky that he had managed to keep one blanket wrapped around the small body, even if there was a medical gown underneath that – it wouldn't help at all to disguise the body that he held. Ahsoka wouldn't be as much of a worry, though she too had worn down – but she had managed to at least keep a bit of weight on and trusted them enough to move her in a gurney to where she needed to be.

With easy steps the nurse climbed into the lift, leaning forward a bit to push the button that would take him to the operating floor. Djibourdi let out a few groggy clicks and managed to turn his head so that it faced his protector's neck, letting it fall tenselessly into the crook of the man's shoulder and collar bone. Eddy hummed, not moving his head so that the child could stay comfortable.

"Y'know what, Dji? Once all this is over…if the Jedi say it's okay, you can come live with me."

A meek half-moan.

"Yeah – you and Ahsoka. Would you like that? Hmm?"

Djibourdi gave a slight twitching hiccup, the response clear – he couldn't hardly move his head. He was too tired to think right now.

"Oh I know," the man soothed to him, stepping through the lift doors once they were open and slowly making his way down the hall, "I know. You just don't feel good, huh? That's okay. We're going to go see some friends of mine right now that are going to try and make you better – you and Ahsoka."

He didn't receive any response, only the body he held trembling all the more in his grasp. It wasn't a shiver, nor was it a shake of fear. In his trained mind the nurse knew that it was the boy's own body telling him that it was weak and dying – the shaking was the sign of exhaustion that was usually the last warning anyone got before their own bodies began to completely shut down. Time wasn't Djibourdi's friend.

Knowing exactly how this would work, Eddy wasn't surprised when he walked into the prep room that he didn't see any other people there – they were in the O.R. right through the door in front of him, and he knew that they would sneak in only to inject the boy and then retreat again. It would be out of his hands at that point, he didn't know a thing when it came to surgeries and transfusions.

"Hey lene," he whispered to the child, turning his own body so the child's head faced away from the woman who crept quietly through the doors. He gave her a glance of greeting which was returned before he bowed his neck to whisper to the boy.

Whatever he said was missed by the woman who pulled the cap of the syringe in her hand, silently pocketing it as she carefully walked up behind the exhausted boy. There was no time for prepping the boy's skin for the injection – every second counted, so she deftly swept up one side of the loose blanket, quickly injected the sedative into the bony upper thigh and retreated back into the O.R. before the child even jumped in surprise.

Djibourdi yelped at the sudden stab of pain and put up a mild form of a struggle before falling listlessly back into his spot in the adult's arms, wheezing weakly into the warm neck and shoulder of his protector who bounced him slightly as he walked back and forth (whether or not his trick of trying to get the boy to sleep faster was working, Eddy wasn't sure).

"Hush now, child," Eddy whispered to him, humming low in his chest, "I know, I know… it's not gonna hurt you, honey. It's just gonna make you sleepy."

The child gave a quiet hiccup.

"Shh," he was quieted, feeling himself already losing the fight with the drugs, "Hush now. Just sleep. That's all, just sleep."

The trembling of the weakened muscles lessened more and more and more until… the child was still. A quick glance to his charge's face revealed closed eyes, and, in the little time he had while the surgeons came into the room, he pressed their foreheads together and whispered a soft prayer before straightening and looking to Reis.

"I think he's asleep," he told the other, allowing the man to use glove-covered fingers to gently lift one small eyelid, and then the other. When the muscles gave no resistance he nodded and announced to his group:

"He's under. We need to get him prepped now."

With careful arms he took the boy from Eddy, giving him the quiet order of:

"Go take a break."

When he was sure the nurse had left he and his tem worked quickly, carefully stripping off the protective blanket and laying the child onto the gurney. Reis set himself busy with ensuring the drips worked correctly while his team efficiently attached all of the IV lines. It wasn't until Iris called his name that looked up from behind his surgical scrubs to see what had her concerned.

"I can't intubate him," she explained to him, the breathing tube in her hand from where she had stopped the effort of trying to get it down the boy's throat, "I don't think he even has the strength to resist the gag reflex…"

"Try again," he ordered her, reaching with trained hands to bend the weak head and neck backward to open the young wind pipe. When he saw Iris get stuck once again with the tubing he moved one hand to the young throat, stroking down with three fingers while quietly encouraging the unconscious child, "Come on, swallow big guy…"

Whether he was conscious or not, the boy seemed to respond, the lax muscles finally responding and allowing the tubing to slide down toward his lungs.

"Thatta boy," Reis whispered to no one in particular, waiting until Iris had the tubing connected to the air pump before slowly removing his supporting hold on the small neck. Quickly, he gave orders to his team, "We're going to do the transfusion on his left side. Mind the catheters, now."

The warning was well heard and several pairs of hands maneuver the boy's body to rest on his right side, stuffing extra blankets and emergency pillows from the cupboards around the thin body to off-set the pull of gravity that tried to get the body to lay flat again. Sure that he wouldn't move they all quickly shifted the gurney into the OR room, two of the surgeons hurriedly setting up the heart monitor next to the unconscious child's bedside while Reis re-soaked his gloved hands in rubbing alcohol to kill off any bacteria he had collected from the other room.

"How are you going to do this, Reis?" one of his team asked, his hand holding onto one of the freezing arms of the child on the bed, "This boy's nothing but skin and bones."

"I know," he responded, "But I have to try my hardest. Keilan," he looked to the cardiologist who had clamped onto a bony wrist to keep track of his pulse in tandem with the heart monitor, "You have to make sure he's stable. I'm going to try and do this quickly, but you know just was well as I do that this is not a good situation for him."

He received a nod and immediately set about his job, moving up to the bed where another of his team had thoroughly cleaned the jutting hip with iodine. A floating tray came to his side and all of his assistants took their respectful places, all quite aware of how to do the procedure.

Well-practiced hands calmly sliced through the thin layer of skin and flesh, already scraping bone with one pass-over – a clear testament to how thin the child was. One aide quickly soaked up the escaping blood with gauze, allowing the surgeon to see the stark whit of bone beneath the sliced veins. Seizing his drill the surgeon took careful aim to begin his journey down to the bone marrow when a sudden warning beep sounded from the monitor. All of the aids watched Keilan swiftly grab a syringe full of crystal blue liquid and inject it into the IV line connected to Djibourdi's arm, and after a moment the wailing stopped.

"You don't have a lot of time, Reis," the cardiologist warned, "his blood pressure is dropping – speed it up."

Reis gave a swift nod, signaling to the others that he was going to begin before taking the fine-sized drill bit and slowly drilling down into the small hip bone below him. It was a process that had to be done slowly – any jerking or twitching could snap the weakened foundation of the young hip straight down and cause even more problems than what they were having to deal with already. After three or four minutes of careful drilling he finally reached where he was aiming, passing the used drill off to one of his aides before accepting a long-needled syringe.

"Let's see what we have, ladies and gentlemen," he told them all as he slipped the long needle down into the drilled hole before pulling back on the plunger.

What met his eyes disgusted him. Togrutan bone marrow was generally an off-white or slight tan thin liquid that was easily drawn out of the body – but this boy's was a deep, swirling grey and it held an odd heaviness to it, almost like polluted water that had been drawn from a sewage outlet.

"Well it's no wonder the kid's sick," one of his colleagues stated the obvious, taking it the slowly-filling syringe, "That stuff is nasty!"

"I didn't know such a thing could even happen," Iris told them all from where she kept the respirator in check, receiving several murmurs of agreement.

"Keep this in stasis for testing," Reis ordered, passing off the large syringe-full of the ugly fluid, "I want to know exactly what caused that. Den, get me the transfer – hurry, now."

The man did as ordered, bringing yet another syringe of fluid, this time a healthy, creamy white, over to him. They all jumped at the wailing of the heart monitor, and Keilan look panicked.

"Hurry up, Reis – I can't keep giving him this stuff!"

"I know, I'm hurrying," he promised, "You just keep this boy with us now."

He was quick to feed the new needle into the drilled hole, slowly suppressing the large plunger to fill the cavity with the new bone marrow in replacement to the amount he had already taken.

"Just have to close him up," he told Keilan who started to rub the thin chest to try and keep his heart warm.

The entire team was quick in screwing a small, thin sheet of metal over the drilled hole and swiftly stitching up the new wound, but the joy of the procedure being over was quickly shut down by the familiar, blood-chilling sound of a flat-line.

"Reis, he's coding!" Keilan told him, quickly giving orders to the surgeons to hold the now-dead body in place while he began CPR with one hand with the child on his side.

There was a mad rush in the room now and the surgical supplies were quickly forgotten, the respirator being replaced with an air bag and Djibourdi's body being flipped onto his back while Keilan continued CPR.

"Come on, kiddo," the cardiologist encouraging the boy, still using one hand to try and get the stopped heart to begin beating again, "Come on, kid!"

"We can't lose this one, Keilan," Reis ordered him, using bloody gloved hands to try and rub blood from the cold stomach to the stopped heart, "We can't lose this one!"

His voice echoed loud in the room, the wailing of the coded machine attesting to his agony.

**IOIOIOIOIOIOI**

As I said before: no hate mail guys. I don't know if anyone liked Djibourdi or not, but remember what I said: Aaaallll in the master plan.

Happy Writing,

~Eliana


	20. Waking World

Here we go, folks: the next installment in my story. Keep in mind that my master plan has not yet been totally completed, but for a couple folks I think this chapter will make them quite happy. No more shall be said.

Enjoy folks. Disclaimers, summaries, legal junk – all in previous chapters. In terms of when the next installment will be, I'm not sure – I'm not really in a good place right now. But that's just a heads-up.

Hope you guys enjoy. Please review so I know this story isn't dead (which I think it may be).

Happy Writing,

~Eliana

**IOIOIOIOIOIOI**

It was a strange reality that the young mind began to slowly swim out of the deep, dark abyss that was the gentle drug-induced slumber. There was no pain in this darkness, and the youngling couldn't help but want to curl up in the warm arms of protective sleep and let it nurse away all of the aches and pains that accompanied the sharp reality of the real world.

…wait….wait. That sound – a sound that rumbled softly through the tiny montrals and entered the exhausted skull, bouncing aimlessly around the hazy thoughts of the child who became very confused. This wasn't a sound that belonged to that abyss… so long in the comforting arms of sleep made the tired body completely unwilling to take that first step toward the world outside. But that sound…. That sound was so enticing, so hauntingly familiar that the young mind couldn't help but claw toward it, trudging heavily through the black abyss toward the window of light that led to the sound that got louder and louder and louder –

And then pain. Two eyes, glazed over with the after-effects of the heavy sedation, slowly began to focus on the world around, blinking heavily against the light blue light that coated the thin body. The very next thing that came into focus was the dripping IV line, it's constant water-like 'drip….drip…' a familiar sound, but not the one that had drug the weary child out of slumber and back into harsh reality.

The sound – there it was again… a familiar humming that changed its pitch, soft and first and then gruff, as though there was more than one source. Suddenly the sound stopped for a second, and then it began again, louder than before.

"Anakin…"

It was a woman, the child noted – it was a voice. A voice… people! People! There were people…

A white hand reached for a button beyond one of the clear walls, pushing in the red device urgently but calmly, before its owner slowly – incrementally – knelt to the floor to be with the bleary eyes that swam about. This was a human, the slowly-awakening brain told its host, a human male…an oddly familiar human male…

"Hey there, Djibourdi," was the whisper from the lips of the man, and the padawan could only slowly blink at him in confusion.

Djibourdi? What was a Djibourdi? …wait…the human was addressing HIM… he must be Djibourdi. Yes, that was familiar. Djibourdi: that was his name.

…where was he? What happened? Why could he not move his jaw? Why was there pain in his chest? …where –

It was with a sudden flash that everything came flooding back, and with a sudden lurch reality gave her stinging slap to the face of the exhausted boy. He went to let out a scream, only to find a hard piece of plastic shoved down his throat. Adrenaline overrode the anesthetic and he shot his eyes around the room, weak, gurgling groans coming from around the plastic breathing tube. He lay on his right side, pillows carefully lying around him so he wouldn't slip onto his back, but they did nothing to ease the stabbing pain in his left hip nor the positively bruising feeling of weight on his chest. No matter what he did he couldn't move and could only look through the clear wall in front of his face at the human who seemed so familiar.

"Take it easy, kiddo," Anakin told him calmly, gesturing with his hand behind his back to Padme who had gone to take a step forward, "It's okay now. It's all okay. You just lay still and Eddy will be here soon – do you remember Eddy?"

The boy only blinked at him slowly, cloudy eyes rolling to the next figures who entered the room. These big ones looked familiar too, the child told himself, especially the one who came to take Anakin's spot crouching on the linoleum floor. This was a good man, he remembered. Eddy, the human had said. Eddy…

"Hey big guy," was the tenor whisper, one deep-colored hand slowly reaching over the wall into the healing light, "Do you remember who I am? You remember old Eddy?"

Tentatively two big fingers touched the back of the thin hand, incrementally moving to sew the two fingers into the lax fingers on the other hand to calmly stroke the palm. Oh yes, now he knew this man – Eddy, the nice man. With as much effort as he could managed Djibourdi curled his fingers around the two larger ones, wanting to open his mouth and speak if not for the scary tube that forced his overly-exhausted lings to suck in air. Scrunching up his face he went to move his head back and try to get rid of the offending piece of plastic, succeeding only in getting several calming voices calling out to him and two steadying hands land on his head to hold him still.

"Shh, easy there," Donavan whispered to him calmly, trying to push some of his own calm into the obviously still-lethargic and frightened child who turned his eyes to look at him, "I know it doesn't feel good, little one – but it has to stay for now. It's going to help you feel better, I promise."

The eyes lingered on him for just a second longer before looking to their owner's hands, seeking out the one that grasped the adult's fingers so tightly. This felt right but…wrong. Why wrong? Who knew? The voices started again above his head but none matched baritone of the one who wiggled his fingers gently in the weak grasp, almost assuredly using whatever he could to take away the momentary aches and pains that accompanied the awakening of the once-dead boy.

In the back of his weary mind Djibourdi could hear himself let out a soft pain-filled grumble, but at that exact moment he was quite content to bask in the semi-conscious world with the warm fingers bringing life to his icy palm. He could feel the rumbling waves from one of the adults shudder in his montrals and he gave the effort to respond, rewarded by the reaction that he received in the change of pitch. It was their own private conversation, the two of them, and it was only shattered when Djibourdi caught sight of what made him tremble.

The woman in white – Tocarra, he could faintly recall, was drawing some clear fluid from a vial into a long-needled syringe, and he gave a sharp whine before coughing around the gagging breathing tube.

"Hey, hey, hey," Eddy called his attention, lightly lifting up the younger hand that so tightly grasped his fingers, letting it plop back onto the mattress almost soundlessly to effectively draw the frightened eyes, "Old Eddy won't let anything bad happen to you. 'Carra's not gonna stick you, lene. It goes in here," he explained, pointing with his free hand to the IV of some unnamed liquid that was dangling in front of the child.

Intrigued, all of the adults couldn't help but smile and chuckle as sharp, curious eyes watched every motion Tocarra made from drawing the fluid to injecting it into the IV line. When she drew back with the syringe there was an immediate rush of warmth, and Djibourdi couldn't help but quietly burr in appreciation of the deliverance of painkillers.

Tocarra grinned.

"See? Told you he'd like codeine."

"Who doesn't?" was Anakin's remark to which Padme narrowly stopped herself from whacking him over the head for.

"No overdoses for this little boy," the doctor told him, knowing full well that with the added fuzziness from the painkillers that the child was definitely incoherent, "I can't rick giving it to him all the time."

"He'll get more when he gets better."

"IF he gets better."

Anakin looked surprised.

"But I though you said –"

"That procedure," she cut him off, "was experimental. There's no guarantee that it worked. It could be a matter of weeks before we see improvement and with him on fifty percent life-support I don't know if he's going to be the one to actually recover."

Setting the used syringe on the tray she stood next to, she sent a long glance to the other sleeping child in the room, the one who Anakin stood so closely to as she slept. Back and forth her trained eyes ventured, from slumbering Ahsoka to half-conscious Djibourdi.

"I do find it curious that he woke before she did," Tocarra told no one in particular, "And that ever through cardiac arrest he managed to find the strength to make it out of that operation alive."

"Our Dji's a fighter," Eddy told her proudly without turning his eyes from the drooping golden ones, "No one else could have made it this far."

"He's not out of the woods yet," she gently reminded him, "Now the hard part begins."

"One so young shouldn't have to deal with such things," Padme whispered sadly to everyone, watching the boy who lethargically stared at his hand.

"I'm not giving up yet – on either of them," Anakin told her in return, looking to the slumbering Ahsoka, "I refuse to. They've been through too much."

All of them were quiet then, reflecting – mulling, really – over what all had happened in just the last two days while the children had been under. The sedatives were only designed to put them under for the operation, but it was obvious that exhaustion had played its cards and pulled the two even deeper under.

Ahsoka had been silent up to this point, only giving a shuddering breath every now and then and slightly twitching under her Master's watchful gaze. Her own transfer had been uneventful after the horrific battle that was Djibourdi's, and she had been quiet right before it all.

When the heart monitor coded during the first transfer, Tocarra could have sworn that she actually felt Djibourdi die. They all did. A simultaneous look had been shared between the three MOs and they all felt the same nauseated feeling…and the same overwhelming relief when the news came that, although they had lost the boy twice, the third time they had managed to keep the rhythm of his heart steady. To make due with what little energy reserves the child's body had, the surgeons had put him on forced air and an automatic defibulator – every time his heart rate or blood pressure dropped, the small wires attached to the skin of his chest would give the body a small jolt of electricity – enough to jump-start a racing pulse.

It wasn't painless, but it was the best thing for the moment. For now, at least, the maintenance of his blood glucose levels by the nursing staff and the caloric supplements given via IV were keeping him alive. The next best thing would have been forced comatose, but that was impossible with the way his heart was. Overall, it was just a situation that had gone from bad to worse and then had taken a slight turn toward the better. Now, if only Ahsoka –

As if on cue the girl gave a huff of breath, her content look contorting into a frown. She was not on the forceful equipment, but she still fought the same side-effects of the sedation that her younger counterpart did. Without a word Tocarra and Donavan went to the bedside (after the eldest made a gesture for Eddy to stay where he was). Anakin was there like a blaster shot and beat them both to the bed, giving a triumphant grin at his padawan's sleepy eyes met his own.

"Hey there Snips," he greeted her warmly, his heart singing when a flash of sharp recognition lit her eyes.

She opened her mouth as if to respond, the IV lines catching her eyes and making her stop cold. For a tense second she observed them and the fuzzy canine toy in the corner of her bed, and then gave her master the all too familiar 'look' – and Anakin laughed with relief.

"I told you that thing was yours, Ahsoka," he teased her, "He likes you so much he stays with you."

"…meanie.." she hoarsely whispered out after licking her dried lips, allowing Tocarra to check her over without complaint.

It was obvious that the sedatives wore off on her quicker than Djibourdi – already she was awake enough to watch everything that Tocarra and Donavan did with a slight interest. That interest was torn away with the sound of Eddy whispering behind the other two MOs, and Ahsoka tried to peer past the both of them to where the other was crouched.

Tocarra and Donavan moved of their own accords to allow their coworker to do what he had planned (talking via ultrasonic waves had its perks), the two of them quite happy to allow a clear viewing path from one bed to the other.

"Ahsoka's fine," Eddy was saying to the other youngling, "See?"

He shifted a bit on his heel to show the two children to each other. Ahsoka managed a tired smile to her friend who she could barely see, and weakly wiggled her fingers in his direction.

"Hi, Dji," she spoke as loud as she could.

It apparently did well to calm him down because within the next second, he was flat-out asleep again.

"He okay?" Ahsoka questioned her master.

He twitched nervously, a little uncertain what to say – Padme' stepped in.

"He'll be fine, Ahsoka," she told her young friend with a smile, "He's just kind of worn out is all."

"It's a good thing you're awake Snips," Anakin told her, nodding to the two MOs who excused themselves, "Plo was starting to get annoying."

"Anakin!" Padme' hissed, trying not to disturb Djibourdi or Eddy who was busy fussing over him, "He's older than you – show some respect!"

"I'm being honest," he told her, "Now I know where Obiwan gets it."

He inched to the head of the bed, reaching over the plastic wall to grasp Ahsoka's cold shoulder.

"It is good to see you Snips," he suddenly stated seriously, "Don't worry me like that. I'm too young for a heart attack, you know."

**IOIOIOIOIOI**

Hope you guys enjoyed it. Please review – no flames! And, just in case, Merry Christmas and Blessed Holidays, everyone!

Happy Writing,

~Eliana


	21. Staggering Steps

Whooo! Better super flippin late than never! ….between me trying so hard to get back to school and the car dying and all the sickness and other fun stuff – yeah, been a fun few months. But here's the next chapter! Yay!

No real warnings about this one. It may be a bridge chapter but believe me, it'll pick up soon enough.

Disclaimer and stuff is usual. If I owned it, I wouldn't be losing hair over stress. And I'm being serious there.

As always, read, review, PM, and enjoy folks! (Well….those of you still around).

Happy Writing,

~Eliana

**IOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOI**

Today was a big day – well…not really big…but important, Ahsoka told herself from where she sat perched upright in her bed. More things had happened today in a good way than had happened in the multiple, countless days that she had been in the hospital. She had two of the bothersome, itchy IV lines removed and she had the strength to sit upright on her own (to where she was now). Djibourdi had had his breathing tube removed (although he showed no real signs of improvement, he was actually able to breathe on his own and, for mercy's sake, the MOs had it removed). Most of all – the best thing yet, Ahsoka told herself, was the fact that Bariss was actually coming to visit.

Surprisingly enough it was her friend's master, Luminara Unduli, who had suggested that the girl pay her friend a visit – and Ahsoka knew in the back of her mind that it was more for her friend's benefit in getting off the battle field than it was for her own. Master Unduli was many things, but she was certainly not without purpose.

Ahsoka shot a quick glance to her roommate. Almost like Djibourdi, she pondered. If he would have come around earlier and the customary rules not be in place, certainly Djibourdi would have made a good padawan for Luminara. He would be a good padawan for anyone…but his continued silence on his old master had slowly begun to lead his older friend closer and closer to frustration. It wasn't a frustration aimed at him specifically – Force no – but it was a frustration that Ahsoka could not deny existed. She was frustrated with the war, frustrated with the constant headaches, frustrated that she was stuck in bed, at the confinement that she was forced to suffer at the moment and, most of all, she was so frustrated with whatever man or species that had been her friend's master before she met him.

Djibourdi sighed softly in his resting state, frowning a bit as he tried to get comfortable again. Standing out blatantly on the sickly-colored cheek was the slowly fading bruise that had marked him since before the day Ahsoka had arrived. Every time she so much as glanced at it the padawan felt angry – the kind of angry that broiled in her stomach and flowed fiercely through her veins in an effort to escape her body. The lack of access to the Force had made her accept one thing: whatever had happened to her friend made her angry. Very angry.

It didn't take half a brain cell to figure out what must have happened (…or some of it, at least) and no one had any right to do that to another person, especially not her Djibourdi.

Her mind froze for a second.

That sounded right. Yes. Her Djibourdi. Her friend. Her equal. Her confidant. He was the only one who really understood what it felt like to be on this side of the syringes and sensors and to feel totally helpless.

As if on cue his eyes slid open, gazing at her across the short distance with a bit of lightened curiosity at what it was that she could be thinking so deeply about.

"Instead of pretending to sleep, you should actually sleep," she told him matter-of-factly, almost laughing when he quirked a single eyebrow ridge, "It'll take you out of it for a while."

The air rumbled with his almost-silent response. That was good enough.

"Do you feel any better?"

Her answer was a slow blink, one taped hand coming up to lie next to his head on the pillow.

"I know."

She couldn't help but feel the frustration building again in her chest – why was it that she felt well enough to eat and sit up while he was condemned to forever have to lay as still as he could to avoid the agony created by his own body?

"I have a friend coming to visit today, Dji," she told him, trying to share some of her excitement with him, "Her name is Bariss. I think you'll like her – she's nice."

He let out a couple rumbles in curiosity before, without warning, he became as stiff as a board, eyes slamming shut and mouth opening to a small gap. Not a second later he relaxed again, sagging limply against the pillows and shoving his face, regardless of the nasal tubes, into the pillows. Ahsoka knew exactly what had happened.

Ever since the surgery he had been hooked up to a machine that would send a shockwave of electricity into his body when his heart rate would drop – and every time the sympathy and pity would pour into Ahsoka quicker than the frustration would and would almost drive her to force her body to move to him. She knew she couldn't do that.

She thought she had made up her mind until she noticed the almost non-existent trembling of the bony shoulders beneath the covers. Djibourdi was making no sound but breathing, but Ahsoka could tell from the minor change that it was beginning to get to be too much for the eleven-year old. It didn't take her long to see that he was losing whatever resolve he had left.

"It's okay, Dji," she told him, horrified to hear the slight quiver in her own voice, "It'll be okay."

Outside of this place she would have done what her master had taught her: keep a respectful distance and use the Force to grant comfort and peace… but even then the unnaturally strong urge drew her to her friend's side.

Cerulean eyes caught sight of the red call button that stood out against the tan machinery and, just as her fingers were about to press the call button, she froze. She didn't need help to do this, did she? Could she manage this? One more look between her friend and the button had her making up her mind. She balled her fingers into a fist and said a quick prayer to the Force before whipping her covers to one side of the bed. Easily she undid the lock on the walls that surrounded her bed and lowered one down so she could slide her legs over the side.

These new machines that had been introduced to them were wireless, thank the Force, she told herself as she adjusted the IV line to hang around her back. If they were wired to her it would make this a lot more difficult…but two weeks plus without standing must have ruined her balance by now…

One look at her friend's distressed form had her setting her lips in a firm line, watching her own feet as the slowly, incrementally, landed on the cold tile floors. The moment her weight settled on her atrophied legs they almost crumbled beneath her – if not for her vice-like grip on the edge of her bed she would have gone careening straight to the ground.

Ahsoka took in a deep breath to steady herself and put her first foot forward, aided by her left hand's grasp on the small cabinet that ran between the two beds. This was exhausting work…she was walking, she realized when she was halfway to Djibourdi's bed – she was actually walking! She gave a happy half-cry which caught Djibourdi's attention. Half-flooded golden eyes widened with the sight of her walking to him, and even with the wall between them he managed to reach his hand out to her, as if (in his mind) he could help her the rest of the way. Ahsoka accepted his hand albeit loosely and leant her hip against the cabinet so she could lower the wall around the other bed with as much precision as her own.

Although the journey between the beds was only fifteen feet or so, it left her legs shaking and trembling like a well-hit musical triangle as she stood, contemplating how she could get into the other bed. It came up to her hip so she would need a step up….and the shelf at the bottom of the cabinet would work fine, she decided.

It was hardly easy going and it took almost two minutes (with several false-starts), but soon enough Ahsoka made it into her friend's bed and let out a triumphant huff with a large grin. She was swift in maneuvering herself under Djibourdi's covers, letting the emaciated body fall against her own thinned one and squeezing his lax hand.

"See?" she puffed out, obviously tired from her journey but not tired enough to not help her friend, "I'm here…. It's okay."

Djibourdi was hesitant to allow himself to get too close but Ahsoka was determined, using her greater momentary strength to force him to stay where he was despite his tensing and soft whines that he released in distress. His energy ran out rather quickly and took his will to resist with it, sending him silently into Ahsoka's embrace.

"Just you and me, Dji," she told him as his cold tears hit her warming skin, "Just the two of us. Together. We can do it."

He hiccupped quietly.

"I think I'm getting better. And if I am, you have to be too, right? I mean…that would make sense. And you've been through so much more than me and you've stayed strong…I know you can make it the rest of the way."

Djibourdi offered no response, too much in pain to really complain about the physical contact but also too lost in memories to reject the comfort she offered him. Ahsoka was none the wiser, her mind preoccupied (and horrified) at the fact that Dji's body was still as cold as ice and felt like a literal skeleton underneath medical robes.

"…did I ever tell you the story of how my master and I met? I mean…. I don't know if that's something you want to hear but I'll tell you if you want."

The younger Togrutan nodded slowly against her skin and she began to speak, her voice slightly twinged in exhaustion due to her voluntary over-exertion. He wasn't totally listening – Djibourdi's mind was so stretched at the moment that he was even amazed he was still awake – but just the sound of a voice slicing through the tensing silence that always dominated the room was more than welcome. He hoped (silently to himself) that it wouldn't be one of the Jedi who found Ahsoka this close to him. It was forbidden in so many archives of the Jedi Order for one Jedi to be so close to another even for the sake of comfort on the verge of death, regardless if it was friend to friend or master to apprentice. Compassion, not attachment: that was the first and foremost rule of the Order, and Ahsoka was one of the few who was brave enough to defy that without too much of a thought. If she was caught this close to him she could get in major trouble…and once his master returned Djibourdi was sure that he would be too. Eddy could get this close without being reprimanded by the Jedi – he was of no concern – but the ever-existing scrutiny kept the boy at as much of a distance as he could manage… as much as was mortally possible with the nauseating pain and exhaustion that settled into his bones.

He had figured it out about two or three days ago – that which no one else wanted to tell them. He knew the truth: the Chosen, the tribulation, the woman who had most likely given it all to save them, his relationship with Ahsoka…his sister (distantly related sister, but blood sister none the less). Of course he knew the legend of the Chosen since he had had so many hours to read anything he wished in the archives while he waited for his classmates to catch up to him in terms of academics…and of course he would be sure that Ahsoka never knew of their connection. She was on the opposite end of the spectrum from himself and he knew one simple thing from what he had observed: she was certainly not subtle. She had a tendency to grow attached and if she knew for sure that he was her brother she would continually make the most incorrect of decisions in choosing him over missions.

Her master was the same way, he theorized as Ahsoka continued to speak. He was attached to his padawan and actually seemed to care about her… but Djibourdi knew what that meant. Sooner or later Ahsoka would realize the truth just as he had, the same truth that haunted his very existence now: the longer she allowed herself to trust her master the longer he had to find out ways to destroy her. That had to be how it was – Force or not, the shadow in that man's eyes was deep and dark with no end in sight, so much like the eyes of the man who tried to end his apprentice's life in the freezing depths of the lake. …but she could never know. He couldn't save her from it, and he knew it.

'Whatever is is what must be,' he recalled his master's growled words, 'If you were not meant to be here then the Force would not have allowed it to be so. You must stand inside of a living nightmare to appreciate what it is that the Force has to offer – the meaning of true power.'

Ahsoka caught his attention and made him jump rather harshly when she hesitantly touched his bruised cheek with two light fingers.

"Sorry," she quickly apologized, pulling that hand away to hold it up, palm out while the other squeezed his own hand, "I was just thinking…it looks like it's healing."

He gave her a disbelieving look. She gave him a stern one.

"Don't worry – we're still alive right? You can't give up yet…"

Never give up, Djibourdi thought to himself as he lowered his eyes. He'd never give up… but that certainly didn't mean that he couldn't reign to his fate in peace. It was what it must be.

"Ahsoka!" came a startled call from the door, and Ahsoka turned to grin at the older Togrutan who stood still with mouth agape.

"Hi, Eddy!" she told him happily, wiggling a bit in glee, "Look what I did!"

"….I can see that, little one," Eddy told her slowly, his eyes scanning the entire room for a long moment, "…how?"

"Uh – duh. I walked," Ahsoka quipped as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

The elder almost appeared to be frozen for the next few seconds before shaking his head in disbelief and walking to the bed, giving a low chuckle to both children who watched him.

"You're too much, Ahsoka," he told her, tapping her hands that fought against him when he tickled her side, "and you mister…"

Djibourdi shrunk down a bit.

"Obviously you're the innocent one, huh lene?"

"No he isn't!" Ahsoka told the MO, "There's no way."

"Just because you're always doing things you aren't supposed to doesn't mean that he does."

The padawan puffed her cheeks out at him, surprised to feel a soft rumbling against her side. Bewildered she looked at the adult who only laughed softly and reached over to stroke the boy's head.

"At least someone finds it to be funny," he stated before becoming serious, "Now little Miss Ahsoka, I'm putting you back in your bed before Master Skywalker finds out."

"No fair."

Eddy quirked an eyebrow.

"Let's not go there. C'mon now," he calmly scolded her as he lifted her into the air, masterfully avoiding pulling the IV lines as he set her back on her bed, "There now. That's better – back where you should be and just in time for food."

He turned to glance over his shoulder.

"And I got somethin' special for you, sweetheart," he told Djibourdi who had been watching the exchange with silent mirth, "We'll get food in you yet."

Down-turned eyes.

"You're not in trouble, son," Eddy told him calmly, trying to understand why he was so upset suddenly, "Don't you worry about it."

"Hey Eddy?"

He turned around to face Ahsoka with a thin smile, happy that she was at least there to help calm the tension.

"Do you think I can talk with Barriss outside?"

The man opened his mouth only to shut it with an audible 'click' when his supervisor's voice entered the conversation.

"Only the sunroom," Tocarra told her, hands on her hips, "No outdoors. And no more trudging around without permission."

Ahsoka stuck out her tongue.

"You're mean."

**IOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOI**

Tada! Hope y'all liked it. Please review, hold the flames. I work retail. I get enough crap in a day.

~Eliana


	22. Sacred Life

Hello all! FINALLY there's an update! In my defense, having your tonsils removed as an adult and dealing with blood infection is no fun. I had fully intended to write this on my week off from work, but I had no idea how much pain was involved. So it had to wait until now.

This is a shorter chapter, but it's a pivotal one….I think a lot of people will be smiling. Annnnnd I can now say that my master plan has worked out perfectly. Hahaha

Now, there's a chance for a lot of misspelling on here. I have two laptops, the dingy one and the good one. Unfortunately the dingy one has MS word on it and the good one does not, and while working retail you do not make enough to pay $100 for MS word on the newer machine. So I have to use this evil thing. All in all, if this one ever breaks, this story will be pretty much stuck until further notice which majorly sucks.

Annnnyway, disclaimer/summary is posted everywhere. Me no own, kk? Cool.

Enjoy, read and review, gimme flames and I will have lotsa fun with them – including reporting you. I was a manager of 70 people at the age of twenty, and now I'm legal. You don't scare me.

God bless, be safe all!

Happy Writing,

~Eliana

**IOIOIOIOIOIOIOI**

It was an odd looking plant…petals scrunched up in the form of an arrow, green leaves wrapped tightly around itself as if it was trying to embrace its own body to keep out the cold. The inside of the plant itself remained a mystery as did the actual nature of the creature as it sat, silent, in the small clear vase on the lonely bedside table so close to the inquisitive eyes.

'It's called a ca'ula flower, Dji,' Eddy had told him when he and Ahsoka presented the plant to the youngling, 'It's very rare. Legend has it that it was a direct creation of the only power… it looks plain now, but wait until the sun sets. Under the dark of night it will do something spectacular.'

With that the adult had left the two alone, Ahsoka to tell a dynamic story of her day in the garden with Bariss and Djibourdi to systematically contemplate what exactly his elder had meant by 'something spectacular' – dignity or not, if that thing got up and started dancing and singing, he would scream like a sissy.

Even in her excitement, it hadn't escaped Ahsoka that her friend was sad…not sad at his predicament exactly, but more sad that the nature that he so obviously loved and adored was so far away from his reach, on the other side of the transparent hologlass window. No sound made it through, not even the occasional twittering of a bird or whisper of wind that would calm the agitated mind of the little child who lay in the bed closest to the window. It hadn't escaped Ahsoka that when the rays of the sun would shine through, he would move to press himself as close to where they would lie as possible, seemingly to try and warm his body fruitlessly through the icy chill that froze him straight down into his bones. In an effort to help him she had gone around the hospital's internal garden with Bariss, and it was her friend who first spotted the flower in the corner, nestled under a tree.

'What is that?' She had asked of Donavan who had accompanied them, and, upon seeing the flower, his eyes lit up.

'Something I haven't seen since I was your age,' he had responded, urging the both of them closer, Ahsoka safely in her hoverchair with Bariss as the driver, 'It's said that this flower was the hand-made blessing of the one power – in your case, the Force. It's said to give light and strength to those who fall into favor with the power, giving them the light to drive out darkness and the life to cheat death. It only blooms in rare occasions and only opens at night when the pure of heart call to it. Of course, a lot of that is legend.'

'It would be nice to have in the room,' Ahsoka told him, glancing up to the window of the room she shared with Djibourdi, 'Can we keep it?'

'I see no reason why not. The grounds-keepers will surely cut it down when it comes to trimming the grass.'

So the peculiar, white-gold flower was carefully plucked and placed in a special vase borrowed from one of the doctors' offices, clear stones from the garden's fountains placed at the bottom of the clear container to add a slight bit of weight and a fashionable accent. Ahsoka was sure that, given an ability to feel the Force again, she would have felt the gentle hum of life from the peculiar thing, but as it sat all she felt was the cool sensation of material glass and the tickle of a soft green stem against her hand.

Now it was nearly midnight and Ahsoka lay sleeping in her bed, softly snoring under her blankets in their dark room. Eddy had come to say goodnight hours ago and headed to the break room to sleep, assuming in his mind that both children would fall into slumber after such a long day. The hallway light had been extinguished at about the time he had left, all of the young neighbors to the two little Jedi also having fallen asleep. Anakin and Bariss, along with the other Jedi, had long since left to go back to the field, and, in the absence of so many people, the halls were oddly quiet.

Besides the soft snoring of Ahsoka, the compressions of the oxygen tanks, and the soft humming of the vitals monitors, all was silent, and it would usually be now that the golden-eyed boy would be catching what little sleep he could. But you see, tonight was different. Tonight, the sharp amber eyes remained open and focused, irises locked, on the peculiar little flower that took up residence on his bedside table. It was night obviously and Eddy tented not to lie about small things, so it made no logical sense in the working mind that the flower remained still. With a huff of air Djibourdi managed to pull himself to an upright seated position, back pressed to his pillows, eyes never moving from the plant.

They hadn't moved from it since Ahsoka fell asleep hours ago, determined not to miss a second of what this thing had to offer him. But as the minutes ticked by he did note about himself the odd feeling of peace that slowly pressed against the dark thoughts that invaded his head, the slow destruction of the awful suicidal thoughts and angry memories of his master easing his breathing and minutely releasing the tension in his shoulders. With a deep, focusing breath his eyes fell shut, all tension leaving his body before once again the amber irises focused, now calmly and dully, upon the flower.

Though trembling the bandaged left hand, the one closest to the bloom, lifted itself from the blankets, a single catheter and IV line dangling lifelessly from it. A small twitch of the fingers – then a small wave. Fingers moving as if to gently wave in a peculiar scent the hand danced, a slow, smooth circle its only path. Peace gave way to peace and then it happened, something that the young mind never imagined he'd see.

Suddenly, though unexpected, the flower twitched, and then as if brought back to life its stem straightened. Pivoting incrementally to face the boy the bloom slightly jumped, the leaves wrapped around itself opening to show their golden insides. Wave… wave… continuously the hand went, eyes lighting up when the flower itself did. It began to unfurl itself, petal by petal moving away from their treasure, a soft glowing marking the gorgeous face of a plant hand-made by the one all powerful. And when it opened it gave off a soft light, smiling in its way to the one it seemed to know…and its pollen that it released in a second fluttered quietly, upon invisible butterfly wings, to land on the cold, bruised, icy skin, giving the child the same glow as the flower itself.

Djibourdi's hand stopped moving when the pollen touched him, his mouth falling open a slight bit and his eyes closing in response to the surge of power that suddenly barraged his system. This warmth, this peace, this power…what was it? It seemed all too familiar yet so strange as it made his skin literally glow, he himself appearing almost to be a golden ghost by the light that the sacred flower gave him. And in that moment, the light flooded in behind his eyes and he saw the flashes of gold, white, and red, the colors so sacred to his people over the generations. Then the voice of truth spoke so softly, not the booming baritone that he would have assumed, to him.

"Inner peace," was what it whispered quietly to him, giving him one last burst of calm before he caught his breath.

His eyes flew open and he watched the light gather from his skin, floating gently back to the flower that captured it again. The soft light of peace began to die, and as quickly as it had come to life before his eyes it went back to its slumber, leaves wrapping comfortably around itself once more and petals shutting around the sacred bud.

Without Djibourdi's permission his eyes slid shut and he fell into the arms of sleep, for the first time in weeks his body sinking tenselessly into the mattress and pillows in wake of the blissful escape. The room and halls once again fell silent, not a single mark left of the events that had just passed.

The next morning was like any other, Tocarra's day starting at five in the morning, her purposeful strides marking the morning's dealing as she so frequently would strut down the polished halls. She had twenty-five active emergency patients – a tall order for any doctor, even those not in the field of emergency medicine. Some were in for household accidents like the pair of younglings that had come in the previous night for a rather bad house fire. Others were recurrent cases of organ failure, cancers, incurable diseases…and it all weighed on her every day that she came to work. But now as she sat in the break room after her first round with two of her fellow doctors, there was a sense of calm. They did this every morning, these three did, one of them being Tocarra's mentor and one being an emergency surgeon who had worked with her since her first day as an intern. These two men together had showed her her potential and had nurtured her as best they could, and there was no doubt in their minds that she had outdone herself on this one.

Little Ahsoka was improving by the day – it was almost certain now that she would at least get back to enough health to support herself, future Jedi or now. It was an awful shame for the other who wasn't doing as well, but there was a reason that what they did was called 'practice' – medicine wasn't definite. It never was or ever would be.

There was much remorse over the suffering of the two young Jedi and their story had spread like fire despite their caretakers' best efforts of keeping it on the down-low. Tocarra took a sip of her caff, not minding the slight burning of her cheeks and tongue as the steaming fluid was swallowed. She had done her best for the boy, even said a prayer on his behalf despite her own personal code against it. There wasn't much that could be done for him, especially if he had lost the will to fight.

For one so young it must have felt impossible…even for an adult it was beyond daunting. Obvious child abuse (to what degree she still wasn't sure), the starvation, the pain, the fatigue, diabetes – she was no psychiatrist but she knew that it had to had taken its toll. She had had older patients on her nights of being the back-up doctor for the ER take their lives for less than that. Even so, what was she supposed to do? She had been denied the permission to put him down (luckily, she thought) but this child was barely clinging on.

Despite their best efforts he hadn't eaten anything solid since he had arrived weeks ago. Eddy had managed to coax him to take a bottle of warmed Yakka milk (she had hoped that with the added minerals and high fat content it would help him), but just seeing Eddy having to hold the broken little body like a baby and bottle feed him due to his severe lack of energy had broken her straight in two and, for the first time since she had interned, she had to step out of the room. It had gotten so bad Eddy actually had to break it up over the source of two hours, the slight movement of the boy's jaw muscles so strained and weak that he couldn't suckle for more than two minutes at a time. All that effort for one bottle of milk. He was certainly tiny enough for his age to be considered far younger, but just the fact that he couldn't even manage that had all of them fairly despondent for his outlook.

That had been a week and a half ago. With a slight pounding in her head Tocarra lowered it to her hands, only to snap it up a second later when Donavan rushed into the room.

"Tocarra," he told her, though his voice calm it held a twinge of energy. In his hands he held a plate which was given to her, and she studied it for a moment.

It had obviously been used, it was empty – so what?

"Whose is this?" she asked, placing it on the table and drawing the same odd looks from the two who sat with her.

It shocked her- the tears that she spied behind her friend's eyes.

"Is young Djibourdi's," he told her, shaking with joy, "Djibourdi ate his food this morning."

It didn't fit her to do so, but the doctor's jaw fell, and she stared at him with a look of utter disbelief and shock. It took a few seconds for reality to hit.

"Excuse me," she quickly blurted to her colleagues before she darted out of the room and down the hall, appearing in the children's room.

Ahsoka greeted her softly and she gave her a smile before crossing to the boy's bed, looking curiously to her student's face as if trying to draw the truth from his expression. Eddy sat perched in his usual spot on the side of the bed…but this morning he was laying fully back against the pillows with a fully knocked-out Djibourdi sleeping curled up to him for warmth. Eddy answered her questioning look with a broad grin, bringing his free hand up to his lips and putting an index finger over his mouth for a gesture of silence.

At Tocarra's nod he calmly grasped her hand and lowered it, very softly, on the stomach of the sleeping boy. Her smile matched his own now.

Djibourdi's stomach was distended – Djibourdi had eaten his food this morning. In his sleep the child's lips twitched, working their way into a very shallow smile.

**IOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOI**

Tada! That's it! Whatdya think? :D Feel free to PM and review, I'm trying to figt my way into the writing world again.

Happy writing,

~Eliana


	23. Sunlit Strength

Tada! Here it is! Yay! Two or three or so more installments and this beat is done! Yay!

Not much to say but read and review, obviously I want nothing to do with negativity so no flames…and have a woooooonderful thanksgiving all. Feel free to PM me if you'd like to talk or have requests or whatnot….even though life is mean one day I'll get to them. :D

I don't own this. Don't be delusional.

Enjoy, my friends. (Oh….random thought. Do you know how honored it makes me feel that when I type 'Djibourdi' into google, that only 9 results come up? All my story, too….that's an awesome feeling).

Happy Writing,

~Eliana

**IOIOIOIOIOIOIOI**

It was an oddly balmy day, Anakin thought to himself as he sat not far away from young Djibourdi. They were both in a small sunroom so the youngling, who had just recently been freed from his multiple lines of needles, could soak up some of the warm rays and breathe in some fresh air. It was usually the job of a nurse to keep an eye on the boy but with Eddy and the others busy with Ahsoka's physical therapy (to which Anakin wasn't allowed in and left him rather disgruntled) the Jedi had chosen to spend this hour with the other little Togrutan that had grown on him. A quick glance to his left brought a slight smile to his lips.

Djibourdi had been brought in in a hover chair, but since the sunlight bathed the ground of the sunroom he had managed to wiggle himself onto the floor and was sitting with his back against a wall, the last IV bag still hooked to his left arm trailing up to where it was hooked to the chair. When he sat like this, even with his torn off-orange sickly skin prominently bathed in light, it was hard to believe that this little one had seen the darkest side of life. He was definitely enjoying the slight breeze that Anakin had allowed to come through (he was a master at tweaking with the windows) and the sun brought the golden eyes so alight with fire that you could see the life just wanting to burst out of them –

The Knight jumped when the youngling looked to him. He gave a smile.

"Feels good, huh?" He gently teased, to which the light in the eyes got a bit brighter. This one didn't speak – he hadn't spoken since Anakin had met him – but that just made him all the more mysterious and distanced. No child, in this human's opinion, should ever feel the need to hold such an air between himself and his protector.

"If you keep up the good work, I'm sure the doctor will let you out there," Anakin told him enthusiastically when he saw the padawan shoot a longing look to the outdoors, "and when you come back to the temple, I'm sure your new master will let you play outside."

He was taken aback when those amber eyes, so deep that they led straight to the boy's soul, suddenly shot to his face and became alight with another light. Through all of his years, the jedi knew that look well. It was in the eyes of refugees and orphans that he and his men would find on their marches…and in the eyes of Ahsoka when she had seen him lose control. It was terror. Bone-chilling, muscle-cramping, shock-inducing terror. Terror at the thought of having another master. He struggled to reassure the youngling.

"Don't worry…all of that is over. We can get you to some soul healers, and find you a very nice master. Not every Jedi is like that."

Yet, even at those words, the terror remained on the other face, cemented to the exhausted expression as the Jedi was studied by those wiser-than-age gazes. Maybe he should try again.

"You know that I care about Ahsoka."

A miniscule nod.

"You have a gift. I know you do, and you've done a good job of hiding it. You know people's intentions, don't you?"

One eyebrow rose on the Togrutan's face and all was quiet…and then a slight nod.

"I would never hurt Ahsoka. We have rough patches of course….but that's to be expected. She means a lot to me and I would never do anything in this life or the next to purposely harm her," He swore, and then found the courage in himself to close the gap between them a bit by sliding two feet closer from where he was sitting on the bench to the younger.

He studied the eyes that held so much locked away knowledge until suddenly the irises dropped to the ground, studying the patterns of warm sunlight that eased his muscles. This Jedi…He was more looking for answers than anything. He wasn't here to kill time, he was here to validate his own thoughts. For a Jedi Knight, this one had a lot of darkness in him, Djibourdi told himself, just one look in his eyes said a lot more than what his words did. He did seem to be honorable in intention, but the dark ink that marked a large hole on the canvas of his soul was huge – like a black hole ready to suck up whatever poor thing wandered too close. Distance was the best policy.

"Djibourdi."

His old master had taught him to always raise his head when he was being spoken to and he did, half expecting that hating hand to yank it hup higher. But this was only Skywalker speaking to him.

"I wouldn't do anything to hurt you, either kid…"

That was not to be believed.

"I promise you. I couldn't believe that they had let him have another padawan…and I'm so sorry for that. I will do everything I can to make sure your next master is kind to you. You deserve that much at least."

He was receiving what he deserved. He had been made to be quite the stubborn fool. He didn't remember his family, only nightmares of how they had died – and when he had joined the temple he had found their lessons to be far too boring…so he had resorted to memorizing many a volume of information just for the thought that maybe one day it would be useful. Yet, even through all of that, he had been unquestioningly obedient, even to his own demise. An order to his knees by his master would have him on the ground in seconds. An order for him to stand still through a flurry of blows had him standing in a wide stance, absorbing every hit he could to train his mind to block out pain.

They were all lessons, his mater had told him. Knowledge was power, despite what that man had said, and Djibourdi had learned and calculated many an item in his life. And one thing he had learned was this: sometimes pain is the only way you can learn. He learned. He was still learning. This moment of warmth and peace had given him strength for this moment…

With a breath he kicked his legs – and it took a moment for Anakin to realize what he was doing, but when he did, he immediately moved to help.

"You want to try and stand, buddy? I won't complain if you do…"

Oh, he wanted to. With every fiber in his body Djibourdi wanted to stand on his own two feet and put this behind him, and he tried again. He was using his body weight to roll himself onto his atrophied muscles, and after five or six failed attempts, made it onto one leg.

"There ya go kid," Anakin encouraged, trying his hardest to not touch hthe phobic boy but did reach to grab a hold of the IV line that had gone tense, "Don't pull the catheter out now."

One last push of energy and a good deal of stumbling…and then, for the first time in what had to be over a month, Djibourdi stood under his own power. He shook his head for a moment to try and get his equilibrium back before moving one shaking step. Anakin just grinned. This one refused to give up. Off all the stubborn people he had met, this little child beat them out. ….even Obi-Wan. That was a feat.

By the time evening fell, both padawans were back in their room, both tucked into their normal bed with Bubbles the stuffed canine (how in the galaxy Djibourdi had come up with 'bubbles' none of the adults really knew…but he has told them his choice by pointing to the little air bubbles in the IV line one day) sitting on the middle table between the two beds. Ahsoka was telling a rather animated story to her master on how the therapy had gone and, not even halfway through his meal, Djibourdi had fallen asleep, his head having fallen to one side with the fork still propped in the bony fingers.

"I wonder what made Dji so tired," Ahsoka contemplated aloud.

"Maybe dealing with you. It does it to me," Anakin quipped back, to which he received a sour face from his padawan.

Eddy just rolled his eyes good-naturedly, skillfully removing the fork from the limp digits and moving the hover tray away from the now-sleeping Togrutan who didn't so much as twitch a muscles from the disturbance.

"I will say one thing," Anakin told them all, flicking Ahsoka in the arm, "He's going to be one tough customer one day."

"Oh yes," Eddy responded fondly, fussing over the blankets.

"Hey1 What about me?"

"One day you'll learn that your overly-loud and obnoxious voice is a good way to communicate with Wookies. I'm sure you'll live with them and grow old."

"Thanks for that, Sky Guy."

"Anytime, Snips."

**IOIOIOIOIOIOIOI**

There we are! Please read, review, and enjoy…and feel free to PM whenever. Have a great thanksgiving, all.

Happy writing,

~Eliana


	24. Strong Enough

I finally found the time to do a new installment within two months of the previous! Yay! This one is a tad bit longer than the others, but it is more interesting. ;)

Disclaimer and summary are the same, yada yada yada…..tada. That's all. Read and review, no flames…you get it.

Happy Writing,

~Eliana

**IOIOIOIOIOIOI**

Today was Tuesday morning. Of course, that didn't really mean much…Tuesday, the day after Monday and the day before Wednesday – the last day in the first half of the week…the next in a great many weeks that had lined up and held Ahsoka in their grasp of never-ending…ness. Yes.

Whatever it was in the IV bag was making her a bit woozy, but she really couldn't complain. After all, the pain in her hip hadn't relented since the surgery and her body in general had felt like revolting against her ever since this whole fiasco started all those weeks ago. Three days of physical therapy had her worn down, almost to the point of wanting to sleep if sleep hadn't become boring….yes, even sleeping was boring. The holo-TV hadn't proven much help, and her roommate's holobooks were boring (honestly, how anyone in their right minds could find documentaries on theoretical history and quantum physics interesting, she honestly had no idea. She glanced off to her left.

There he was, sickly-colored skin, huge bruise, scars and all – little Djibourdi, slightly reclined on his pillows, eyes closed, the only signs of life from him coming from the heart monitor and slight rise and fall of his stomach. He had been sitting like that for two days, ever since Anakin had gone off-world to handle a mission given to him by the council. In those two days, the padawan had just sat there…he didn't eat, he didn't react to pain, he didn't seek out the full comfort of his blankets. He sat there. Just like that. Like he was frozen in carbonite. But still yet, he was breathing, he was alive, just not….aware. It was very odd, Ahsoka told herself, giving her friend a good once-over with her eyes.

The only thing that had really changed about him was his skin color, from the awful grey to the ugly, death-like tan. Besides that little detail, nothing had shifted – the painful tears in his skin, the bruised cheek, the skinny frame, they were all there. They hadn't left. He had made her so happy when he began to finally eat again and now he sat still like this, just breathing, not moving, not doing anything and it worried her. She would call his name and beg for him to answer, but still he sat, unmoving, unaware, in his spot. When a knock sounded at the bedroom door she changed her focus, smiling at Eddy who came in with their food. She gratefully accepted one and watched, worried, as the nurse tried his best to rouse the boy from whatever sleep he was in…with no success. Generally, a touch to his cheek by anyone had him flinching back as far as he could go…but now he was still, eyes never twitching beneath their lids, his breathing perfectly even.

"What is he doing?"

The question was from the nurse to Ahsoka. If this couldn't be explained away by medical science, it had to be something related to the Jedi…right?

"I don't know," the girl conceded with a frown, watching with curious eyes as the skinny body didn't move, "But he's sure doing an awful lot of it."

"He isn't doing what you all do…meditating?" Eddy asked with just a hint of desperation.

It wasn't a coma…they had already tried that outlet. Djibourdi's brain waves were skyrocketing, they were surging…his mind was racing. All the time. That didn't happen in a coma…and even if he was somehow in a coma and they couldn't detect it, how in the galaxy could he put himself in one and have his body continue to function normally?

"No…at least it doesn't….feel like that," she told him, "I haven't been able to use the Force again obviously but…I don't know, I just know that that's not it."

"How do you know?"

"…I can feel him. It's like…I don't know. It's complicated."

"What isn't with you two?" Eddy joked, copying her grin from across the space. With a final, affectionate brush across the prone forehead the adult stood back to his full height, a frown on his face.

"…he cares about you too, you know," Ahsoka told him in between small bites of fruit, drawing his startled glance, "You're the only person he really trusts, not even me. I don't know if…"

She stopped then, unsure of how to say what she was concerned about.

"I don't know if the council will want him back."

"What makes you say that now?" Eddy asked as he came to sit on the side of her bed, and unconsciously she found herself leaning slight toward the comforting presence.

"This is a war. The only way they're going to want us back is if we can fight. I'll be able to – thanks to you –but him..."

She trailed off again. Just the idea made her stomach churn. It was with a sigh that the nurse spoke.

"Ahsoka, you know as well as I do that it was your perseverance that has gotten you this far, and I am very proud of you for that," he told her with an affectionate tap of his fingers to her nose, "But even though Dji has had as much perseverance, he has to do this in his own time. Even after all of this he will have to fight. He has diabetes, he will always have it. But he can live with it. And as for everything else, all he needs is some sessions with a good soul healer and two arms to be held open for him and he will be fine. You two are of ancient blood. Time will tell the tale for him. For now, I want you to focus on you and get better."

He tapped her tray and she nodded, picking up another piece of fruit and slowly chewing on it as Eddy stood and walked back to his favorite patient, reaching down to gently grasp the body wrist so he could take the boy's pulse. Not more than twenty seconds later he placed it back on the mattress with a soft sigh.

"Eddy?"

Tocarra's voice came from the doorway. She stood in her normal white gown, clipboard clutched to her chest by one arm, one articulate eyebrow raised in a silent question. Her apprentice gave her a lost look.

"No ma'am, he still off his food."

That was enough to have the doctor raise her other had to her head, let out a contemplative sound, and walk away to her office.

"I don't know what you're doin' lene," the nurse whispered to the prone child, "But I really hope it works…"

He adjusted the blankets over the spindly arms and tucked them in before heading out, leaving Ahsoka, once again, without anything to do. She began to nibble contemplatively on a small sausage and zoned out, allowing her thoughts to run free in her mind just for this one moment. This wasn't something she was used to doing, honestly…not anymore. Meditation was something that she hadn't done since this all started. You see, young Ahsoka hadn't felt the force since this had all began and, with the constant sickness and fatigue and worry, meditation was the last thing on her mind. But maybe…

The azure eyes snapped open. Maybe she could reach out to her friend. She looked to the unmoving figure. It was worth a shot, at least.

She pushed the tray away with one hand, allowing it to hover on her bedside before moving herself into a meditative position. The lotus was her preference…with her legs aching and herself being seated already on a hospital bed, it was much easier than the typical meditative stance that was used.

Now…how did you do this again? Focus, Ahsoka, she berated herself, remember what you were taught. Calm. She took a breath. Focus. Find your center. …reach out…

It was cold. And black. This wasn't how it used to be. Meditation used to take her to a bright world, one that was warm and friendly and that had so many familiar feels and sensations…but without the force, meditation just led her deeper into the recesses of her own mind. Maybe she was doing this wrong.

Changing her approach, she dug as deep into herself. The first time she ever felt the Force was when she was little…with Master Plo…

For weeks, her mind had been blank, but then, with a sudden rush too powerful to describe, something came flooding in – a light so overwhelming that it made her wince. A flash. Then it was gone. The back. What was this? It hit her like a ton of bricks when a soft, hesitant, but all-too-familiar presence brushed against her mind. It was in desperation that she grabbed a hold of it. That quickly she was grounded, and that quickly too she realized who it was that she was with.

'_Hi Dji,' she sent put through her mind and felt the happy brush in response, 'Where are we? This isn't the Force…'_

_There was a gentle tug and she conceded in going with him, feeling the two of them set adrift in a sea of nothingness._

'_Are you alight, Dji?'_

_An affirmative._

'_Where are we? Why are you here?'_

_Loud screams, blows landing, pain – peace. Peace._

'_So this is where you've been, right? For two days?'_

_Another affirmative. A note of concern was pushed to her – concern for her. She shouldn't be here. She wasn't supposed to be here with him right now. A stronger pull had her moving faster, faster – then they both stopped._

'_Where are we now?'_

_Djibourdi didn't answer. It was another presence that reached out to her eagerly, another that was so familiar that she ran to it – and was flooded by the warmth of her master's presence that brought her deeper into the embrace of the Force. It was Anakin, and he was so excited to feel her that he didn't release her when they were grounded again._

_It all came as a torrent – the feeling of so many around her, the presence of the living force, her master's rough and unyielding existence in her mind…so much unlike Djibourdi's warm, gentle one… Djibourdi. Where was Djibourdi? He wasn't here…was he alright?!_

She jumped out of her meditation suddenly with a gasp of breath, whipping her head around sharply to spy her prone friend. Eagerly she stared at his chest, and a second later her whole body went limp with relief when she spotted the very subtle rise and fall of his chest that came with the aided oxygen being pushed into his lungs from his nose. He was fine.

Her master's presence pushed persistently at the back of her mind and she gave a weary smile, one out of happiness and pity. She was overjoyed at being connected once again to the never-ending force, but the one person who led her back to it and her master didn't have anyone calling out to him like she did. But…the questions in her mind persisted. How was it the Djibourdi had managed to reach out to her in the first place? Mind to mind contact was virtually unheard of between everyone except in the situation of master to apprentice. It wasn't outlawed by any means, but the bonds between minds were very hard to reach – to bond to their apprentice, it wasn't completely outrageous for a master to work at it with them for several weeks before a strong enough bond was established to allow for each other's presence to be felt.

How could he have bypassed all of that and contacted her under his own power? She looked over to his body. No change. Curiously, she went to concentrate again, as she had before…but this time there was no answer. It was like he had vanished into oblivion. She couldn't feel him anywhere.

"What did you find out?"

Ahsoka jumped about two feet in the air when Eddy's voice sounded next to her, and he quickly apologized and raised his hands in peace.

"Sorry! Sorry – I didn't mean to startle you. You were out for almost two hours, we got a little concerned."

She gave him a gentle smile.

"It's okay...he's okay," she nodded toward Djibourdi, "he's just trying to relax. I think he's in a trance."

"A trance for what?"

"I'm not entirely sure…but he led me back to the Force. I'm sure he'll be just fine in …time…"

She gave a yawn. This was exhausting. Eddy chuckled.

"Alright, nap time for you little one," he told her affectionately, ushering her back under the blankets and into a sleeping position.

"I'm not…tired…" she went to argue, only to lose a few seconds later from her master's sleep suggestion that was forced upon her.

He had free reign over her at this exact moment because of her exhaustion, and clearly he could feel how tired she was.

"Sure you're not," the nurse told the sleeping girl, tucking the blankets in around her. It was amusing to him that both children were lying the same way, out like lights. What curious creatures Jedi were….very curious.

These two were strong….he glanced at the boy. Hopefully strong enough.

**IOIOIOIOIOIOI**

Tada! Lemme know whatcha think (with reviews folks, don't flame me. I just worked 11hrs on black Friday and dealt with quite a few butts. Don't push it. :D ).

Happy Writing,

~Eliana


	25. Waking Day

Alright, so this may carry on longer than I originally projected...but that's not necessarily a bad thing, eh? Maybe I can do some one-shots in between or something.. but I definitely plan to do stories after this one...but I have to reach the end of this one first!

Now this is going to be the first time I copy-paste onto , because I am FAR too lazy to switch from one laptop to the computer then back again. If it so turns out that it looks horrific copy-pasting, then I will find another way of getting it up.

I do apologize for not updating this quickly, I am just in the middle of finding myself. After finding out that I have chiraptophobia it's been a tad bit of a fight to keep my purpose in mind, so I'm doing a bit of soul-searching. It just so seems that writing actually helps me to relax and focus.

Please enjoy, feel free to PM and review. I own nothing and am quite happy to admit so, but I would appreciate some nice comments. :D

Enjoy folks, I'm hoping I can get the next one up fairly swiftly, but no promises.

Happy writing,

~Eliana

**IOIOIOIOIOIOIOI**

It was mid-morning by the time Tocarra was able to finally make her rounds, and that in and of itself was far from pleasing to her. When things were to be done, they should be done in a timely manner so that everything had its own little time slot for the exact amount of time needed. Oh, but of course thing could never once go as planned in her schedule – It was layed out simply in her mind every morning when she woke up, the well-worn gears of her mind methodically laying out the overly-detailed schedule of her day that would, of course, somehow go awry. Was it so much to ask that for one day – A single, solitary, beautiful day, she could actually start working with her current patients first? Oh well, one could never say no when a person was wheeled in from an emergency. It was good to be open-minded and helpful, but being overly helpful had kept her from the padawans' room for a full day (to which she promptly informed the nurses and aides that if they even dared to interrupt her for one moment today she would find a new use for her medical knowledge.

Yes, she did indeed sign the doctrine to do no evil, but nowhere did it say that she couldn't have her own way with the rather annoying twittering of her interns. With a bit of a sigh she entered her favorite patients' room, noting that Ahsoka was awake and sitting up in her bed, actually reading. The curtain between the children's beds had been draw hours ago (Eddy believed it to be better for Ahsoka to focus on herself rather than her friend). The doctor crossed the few steps to the bedside, finding herself actually smiling for the first time in a few hours.

"Hi!" the girl chirped, raising one hand to wave rather enthusiastically at the doctor who raised one eyebrow ridge in mild amusement.

"Hello child," she responded, grasping the other thin wrist for the child's pulse, "I would ask how you're feeling today but I do believe I've already seen a good bit of it."

"I'm really good, actually," Ahsoka stated with a surprising amount of calm, the rush of energy that had surfaced briefly replaced by the prized facade of the Jedi.

Eighty-four beats per minute, the doctor told herself in her mind, not the ideal ninety yet but a far cry from the near-death pulse that the youngling had upon arrival. Truthfully, overall she had begun to recover quite well over the past week, regaining her strength (or enough of it to endure two rounds of physical therapy a day) and determination to survive. In the end, that's what it all boiled down to...that she could say with certainty. How much of a patient's recovery was rooted within the patient's own belief that they could recover?

It was that snag that had held the recovery of the two void for so long...but now that at least Ahsoka was feeling better, she grew steadily stronger by the hour. She was far from fully recovered, but her core temperature had increased to only three degrees shy of a healthy core temperature, and in all actuality her slight increase in weight was doing wonders for her overall health. In a fight against starvation, every single pound was precious. The meager three that Ahsoka had managed to grasp a hold of could easily spell the difference between life and death for her. The light in her eyes was back, even if it was just a bit diluted by the still-painful muscles in her body.

"No headaches? Nausea?" The doctor pressed calmly.

"Nope!" chirped the padawan, happy that the doctor didn't seem at all worried about her observation, "But I'd reeeeeaallly rather sleep in today."

"Nice try, child. You're going to therapy, then you can sleep."

Her response was a puffing of pink cheeks, pale young lips creating a pout.

"Oh you stop that now," the adult chided playfully, tapping the cheeks that were full of air, "Don't make things too hard."

"The way to Ahsoka's heart," came Eddy's voice from the door, "Is through food it seems. If I promise a certain young lady that if she comes with me, we'll get...hmmm...maybe some frozen fruit popsicles, maybe she'll come for a ride in this lovely hover chair I've brought."

The nurse brought the hover chair to rest by Ahsoka's bed, both adult getting a hearty laugh from just how eager she was in getting the blankets off of her lap. Sugar was the way to any child's heart – and since it was such a rare commodity for rewards within the homes of the Jedi, the girl was perfectly happy to get as much of the substance as possible. After having done it many times by this point, the method of moving the IV bags and the girl herself to the hover chair was hardly a task, and it did give Tocarra an odd sense of satisfaction as she watched the happily giggling youngling float away with the aid of the doctor's hand-picked student.

But just as quickly as the small surge of joy had hit her, it fell away when she turned to look at the curtain hanging from the ceiling behind her. Ahsoka had made an outstanding amount of progress in such a short amount of time after surgery, but in her success, the small shadow of another poor creature loomed. It took a lot to make Tocarra upset, but she could feel the tears bit her eyes ever so briefly at the thought of Djibourdi.

If ever there was a person doomed to suffer it was him – but just the fact that he was so young and still so kind at heart made her feel such a heartache that it felt as though it was forced into her by an outer-worldly being. Gathering up the courage within herself, she crossed the distance to the edge of the curtain, peering into the small gap between the curtain and the wall, just a force of habit before encroaching on private space.

It obviously had no purpose here as the tiny child lay eerily still, the only obvious signs of life being the heart monitor screen's portrayal of the slow heartbeat that kept the frail body alive. She had placed him on two bags of caloric fluid to desperately try to supplement the calories he wasn't eating, but it would all be useless if he chose to give up. Ahsoka had sided with life – she fought for it and slowly but surely she was winning. She had found her reasons to live again...but Djibourdi seemed to be the opposite. He wasn't necessarily self-destructive so to speak, but he certainly wasn't fighting to stay alive either...and quite honestly the adult couldn't really blame him. She herself fully admitted to the silence of her own soul that if their places would be mercifully exchanged, she would be fully prepare to give up life at the drop of a hat.

But this boy, the little child who lay so prone, grey skin covered in white gauze blending with the sheets, this boy was far from a weakling. Even now, through the dead silence, the strength of this one could be felt with very little effort. With gliding footsteps Tocarra crossed to the bedside, observing with keen eyes every detail of the boy who lay so still there – still as if sleeping...but none of her tests proved that. He was out alright, he didn't bother to so much as twitch when herself and Eddy were forced to wash his cold skin and clean the painful wounds. He didn't give the near-silent whines at being moved or twitch his lips in a tiny frown when the IVs were removed from his skin, only to have more of the small needles pressed back into his skin later. No eating, no crying, not even blinks of his eyes – he was just prone.

It was not a coma – she certainly wouldn't have chanced putting him so deep into a condition like that with his body being in the condition that it was. It was the entire purpose of a medical-induced coma to help the body heal on its own, but if it was at the potential cost to a life it certainly wasn't a decision that Tocarra was willing to make. If by pure happenstance the child had slipped into a coma on his own,

by now his brain waves certainly would have suggested so. As it was at this exact second, his brain waves were in a state of calm, but not so much a calm that would suggest the youngling was indeed in a coma.

Yet it wasn't sleep either. His eyelids hadn't moved (aside from when the doctor gently pulled them back to check his eyes), which suggested no dreams. He had been lying like this, rhythmic breathing forcing the bony chest to rise and fall with precision, for three days and hadn't so much as twitched any muscle in the time. In sleep the mouth would fall slightly open, yet his jaws remained fully and tightly shut.

A trance, it seemed, was the most likely of all three to be the culprit of Djibourdi's sudden state of extreme silence. Quiet to words was the boy's obvious forte, but this was...

Tocarra shook her head, reaching to the glove box suspended on the wall, pulling a couple medium-sized gloves from the container and slipping with ease onto her hands. It was with an air of purpose that she first reached to lay her right hand onto the child's forehead, whispering quiet words in her native tongue to the little boy – whether he was listening or not, she was indeed working with a child. In her years of working with such young ones she had learned well that a calm hand was needed in such situations, even ones bordering far away from this.

Passing her tongue over her lips for moisture the woman reached down to slowly undo the medical tape securing a piece of gauze on the grey right arm – its purpose was to try and protect the large, open sore that had caused more than its fair share of pain to the child. The final bit of medical tape pulled off gently and Tocarra moved to slowly remove the gauze, her aim to gauge the stage of healing of the wou-

She stopped cold. Her mouth opened and closed several times in succession as she tried to speak, only to settle on swallowing hard at the vision her eyes gave her. With a note of carelessness she tossed the used piece of gauze on the bedside table, using trembling fingers to trace over the flawless patch of cold skin – surely her mind was playing a trick on her, she desperately told herself, reaching over the prone body to the other gauze-covered arm. Methodically plucking away at the tape on another piece, it fell off as well, revealing no hint of a wound beneath it. Another was removed. No welts, no sores, no open wounds.

Bruises were still mottling the pale skin with frequency, but the more horrific and worrying of the open and oozing sores were gone – and it was at that moment that Tocarra felt her body go numb as she turned to stare at the stoic face of the boy. It was a trance. A healing trance. Djibourdi was healing himself.

Without so much as a muscle spasm the youngling lay dead still, eyes still shut against the light coming from the holo-TV. Wait – holo-TV?

Tocarra turned around to look with a raised brow at the television. Why in the name of the universe was that thing on if he wasn't awake to watch it? Ahsoka wasn't the one with the love of animals, Djibourdi was. Every time Tocarra had come in to see the children he was either watching some documentary on wild creatures or was mindlessly fussing over the fur of the little stuffed canid named Bubbles. It was curious as to why exactly the holo-TV was on and the remote was on Ahsoka's side of the room – but it was even more so that, despite her sharp and scrutinizing mind Tocarra had missed the fact that it was even on in the first place. Giving a soft, amused sigh she glided to floor underneath the television and reached one arm up to press the power command, watching the screen go blank. A shake of her head in confusion let her absorb it all for a second before she turned on her heel, moving back toward the bedside, only to find herself stopping cold for the second time since she had come into the room.

"Oh my..." she breathed, astonishment making her eyes go wide for the longest moment before her lips curled into an excited smile, "You're awake!"

And he was indeed. The amber irises, though half-lidded, were peering straight at her with curiosity and a light of acknowledgment, pale lips shuddering a bit as they moved for the first time in days.

"Hello, little one," she spoke with a lowered tone, trying to be soothing to the probably-painful hearing of her patient as she neared the bed. Slowly she dropped into a crouch next to him, ensuring that the young eyes stayed fixed on her as she moved, "It's good to see you again. How do you feel?"

For a long moment Djibourdi did nothing, but then his lips twitched and he let out three soft clicks, his eyes trailing down to his fingers as he made them twitch slowly, as if testing to see if he had full range of motion or not. Tocarra gave him the time that he needed, taking her own notes in her head as she watched him move – first simple motions by his fingers, then slowly bringing his arms to full motion. Golden eyes slowly trailed up to meet hers her she gave him a kind smile.

"You can still move. I promise."

He blinked at her. In a momentary effort the thin legs under the blanket began to kick in a futile effort to move and the whole little body began to writhe underneath the blankets as the child grumbled low in his throat and created soft chirps – with all of the Togrutan sounds Tocarra knew, she did know that one.

"Shh-shh child," she whispered, reaching up to calmly place a hand on one side of the cold neck, not surprised at all when his left hand shot up to weakly touch hers. The motion did what she had aimed for, stopping the painful writhing just as quickly it had started, "Eddy will be back soon, I promise. The pain is just lactic acid from you lying still for so long. It will pass."

Two more soft, bird-like calls passed Djibourdi's lips before he relaxed again, his hand falling from hers in a small act of surrender.

"He's coming back," she told him once more, understanding who he was calling for, "You amaze me, Djibourdi."

She gestured to the gauze on one of his arms, slowly moving to take the white cloth off to show him what she meant.

"All gone, little one," she told him, running her fingers over the patch of skin that, not three days ago, had been layed open and bleeding freely – she noted the flash of relief in her patient's eyes at the lack of pain the ministrations caused, "How did you do that, hmm?"

He gave no response to her question, but the smallest change in his expression suddenly seemed to bring light straight into her being.

"It's been a while since you've smiled, sweetheart – can I see that again?" she teased him, clicking her tongue and tapping the side of his nose. There was a genuine smile – the most beautiful thing she had seen in far too long, "Ah! There it is! I see it."

The slightest airy giggle filled the air and Djibourdi moved to bury his face into his pillow, the overly-shy boy trying to hide the reason for his sudden rise in attention from the adult. The motion pulled a little too hard on the breathing tubes taped to his face.

"Alright now, Djibourdi," she told him, only to find herself stopping at the sound of Ahsoka's happy talking on the other side of the curtain, "I do believe he's back."

The golden eyes went wide. Djibourdi chirped as Tocarra stood, moving the curtain a bit more aside as the voices on the other side of the curtain stopped dead, footsteps marking the approach of someone else. The doctor smiled at her student and cast an affectionate look to the padawan who gave another chirp at seeing Eddy peer through. Tocarra let him pass then stepped to Ahsoka's side, sliding the curtain shut behind her to give them privacy and to get Ahsoka settled once more.

Eddy wasted no time to cross to his favorite child's bed, more than pleased when the thin arms opened in a motion of request to be hugged – which was met with no hesitation either. Bony and cold he may have been, but the warmth of a young soul managed to bring tears of joy to bite at the man's eyes as he brought the exhausted body to his.

"Lene, iht seisin viede," he whispered to the boy, using one hand to undo the bedside latches so he could scoop up the sore body and cradle him in strong arms, leaning back so the cold being was caught between his own body heat and the mountain of blankets on top of him. At the fearful clicks he quick to hush him, even as the sounds fell silent in response to the warmth that relaxed his body, "Nei fefin, lene. Nei fefin, iht ber hier."

Just to see him awake for any amount of time was more than enough to bring peace to the nurse's heart, and no words could describe just how content he felt at that exact moment. With a chaste kiss to the crown of the child's head he let the calming rumbles leave his lungs before he spoke a bit louder than before.

"I'm going to take my break, boss," he stated loud enough for Tocarra to hear.

"Take however long you need, Ed," the doctor told him, busy working on a squirming Ahsoka.

"You're cold," Eddy murmured to his charge, gathering the little child closer to him by scrunching up the blankets to trap in as much heat as he could.

Hooking his hands under the boys arms he went to position the child against his shoulder, only to be met with a sudden surge of resistance marked with a sharp whine.

"Dji," he spoke somewhat-sternly, breaking through the vice of fear and meeting the golden eyes, "Trust me now, my little one."

He made the move again, this time without the resistance. Careful no to pull the IV lines he pulled the bony arms over his shoulders so the could hook around his neck, guiding the little head to rest on his own left shoulder. Body heat was always most easily transferred skin-to-skin, but even this was better than what it had been. It was worrying that he could feel Djibourdi's hip bones and ribs through the layers of cloth, but of course in this situation it was to be expected. He was awful small for his age, even in terms of height – so much so that it was hard to believe that he was the age the age that he was.

"See? This is all I wanted," he told the boy, running a hand down the prominent spine over the blankets, "Nothing bad. Nice and warm."

One small hiccup was all he got in return and just like that, the child fell asleep against him, causing him to chuckle ever so slightly. He jumped slightly when the curtain retreated from in between the beds, allowing him to see Ahsoka peering at them. Her eyes went wide.

"Is he okay?" She whispered, watching Tocarra calmly walk back over to the bedside.

"Oh yes, Ahsoka," Eddy assured her, still trailing a firm hand over his charge's back as he spoke, "He's just sleeping now."

"And having some sort of dream," the doctor added at seeing the fluttering eyelids on Djibourdi's face.

Djiboudi was obviously out against Eddy's shoulder, mouth slightly agape and eyes fluttering – oh how she wished she had a camera, Tocarra mused. He hadn't fully slept in four days – it was time to make up for it now. This fully crossed the professional limit, yet every one of them knew that such a rare thing as comfort was what this padawan really needed. The nurse used his free hand to pull the top blanket over the top of Djibourdi's head, just far enough to contain the warmth he was trying to share with him. Beginning his calming motions once again, he looked to Ahsoka.

"As for you, young lady," he teased her, "One of these days you're going to out-run me."

"Hardly," Ahsoka shot back, "I only made it down the hall."

"All the way?" the doctor questioned while she walked to monitor by her bed. While pulling of the used medical gloves, tossing them haphazardly into a waste bin.

"Yup," Eddy spoke for her, "No help, just herself. She makes me look bad."

"It's not my fault you're old," she told him with a huff, puffing out her cheeks.

"And now I see why your master calls you 'Snips'," the nurse chuckled.

"Yeeaaaahhh...It's a living."

**IOIOIOIOIOIOIOI**

There we are! Now this machine is younger than the other, but I'm using open office on here so it may or may not recognize some things and auto-correct them. I think I found them all, but no promises.

**Translations:**

Lene, iht seisin viede – (My) Little one, I am so happy to see you

Nei fefin, lene. Nei fefin, iht ber hier – No fear, (my) little one. No fear, I am here.

I hope you enjoyed it, please lemme know what you think. I know I said two more chapters but it juuuuuust might be longer than that.

Happy writing,

~Eliana


	26. Stumbling Steps

Here we are. I'm not entirely for sure whether the next chapter will be the least or if there are maybe two more left, but rest assured that I do plan two prologues to this story upon its end. Ironically, I was reading over my past chapters and I have to say that I was a bit shocked...not at the content but the fact that it all came straight from my head. I never re-read my work, so it was quite enlightening.

Disclaimer and warning jazz is the same.

Thank you a million to all those who reviewed and continue to do so – I can't tell you what joy it brings to my heart to read what you all have to say. I enjoy writing this and I am happy it makes you all so happy as well.

Many blessings to you all, my friends. Same stuff as always, no flames, please review and/or PM, yatta yatta. :D

Happy Writing,

~Eliana

**IOIOIOIOIOIOIOI**

It was with a tad bit of childish anticipation that Ahsoka found herself mottling about aimlessly, glancing in between her friend, the window, and the hall in front of them. Today was an important day, one that she had been secretly waiting for since she herself had started the physical therapy. Seated on a bench, she was holding herself up under her own power – but that wasn't the reason for the whole-hearted joy she couldn't contain. Not only did she not have a single IV line attached to her, but just off to her right, perched in a hover-chair with a hospital robe over his back, was her friend. Djibourdi was just as lucky as she was to get out of the room for a while so that the maintenance crew could clean, and what better way to do physical therapy for them both if not to do it at the same exact time? Today was the first day of it for Djibourdi, and there would have been no thing in the universe that would have stopped Ahsoka from being exactly where she was at the moment. It would only be a twenty minute freedom, but it was freedom still.

She looked to observe her younger company.

He was sitting still, eyes alight with just the slightest hint of excitement to be anywhere but his bed. The sun was pouring through the windows on the right-hand side of the room and it shot directly onto him, warming his off-peach skin and creating the lightest of smiles – but it was still a smile. It counted, she told herself stubbornly. Of course he was hardly in any shape to be doing anything but sit in that chair, yet even that little event was enough to bring them both such a burst of hope that it was overpowering.

"Are you excited?" she asked quietly, easily drawing the alight golden eyes to her own.

She got a small nod and a half smile – not a lot by many people's standards yet overwhelming compared to what she used to get. He was simply excited to see somewhere else, not so much excited to discover just how weak he actually was now. Ahsoka was more excited than he was to have him there, sitting in the long, empty hall with her. It made her feel just the tad bit calmer.

"I am too," she told him, trying to coax just one more smile out of him by lowering her head and meeting his eyes with a wide grin, "I get to see you stand up. That'll be something, huh? And no itchy needles, either!"

That was what they were both beyond grateful for. No IVs ran into them at this moment, but of course as soon as they would return to their rooms the lines would be replaced... but even Tocarra had to admit that half an hour without fluids wouldn't be the make-or-break event right now. Djibourdi had been awake and more active than he had ever been since he had made it to the hospital, and within the last rotation Eddy had managed to coax him into eating a decent amount of his food on his own – slowly, bit by bit, but regardless of that it was such a dramatic turnaround that the entirety of the staff couldn't help but feel the slightest twinge of optimism. All that stood in the way of their being independent were simply rebuilding their bodies and strength (and the obvious snag of being diabetic on the boy's part, but to that Tocarra noted no severe worry).

Unbeknownst to them there was one other thing that had to be done, something that no one except Ahsoka, her master, and Djibourdi knew of for sure. Even to Anakin it was still just a theory that didn't need to be voiced, but Ahsoka could feel it in her mind...and no matter how much she would try to hold onto the Force-connection with her friend, he continued to slowly sever it, piece by piece. She hadn't realized it until the day before today, and she could still recall the conversation with fluidity.

"_That was a dangerous thing to do y'know," she had told Djibourdi who sat to her left in his bed, weak legs brought as close to him as possible as he stared off a bit. _

_She was met with a pair of tired yet intelligent eyes, looking straight back at her without hesitance. He knew exactly what it was that she spoke of, what even she was purposefully commenting on to try and get him to falter. Yes, it had been risky and dangerous – it could have cost him dearly. _

"_You shouldn't have put me in your mind with you at the same time to connect me with the Force – that could have destroyed your mind. I'm not saying I don't appreciate it – I really do."_

_He blinked slowly. Taking in a deep breath he suddenly released it from his lungs, pulling back his lips to bear his teeth in what would be to anyone else a rather menacing hiss. To Ahsoka, it said a million things. _

"_I know you're still bridging my connection with Anakin...that's why you haven't gotten any better. You've been giving me all of your energy so I could heal and talk to him and get better. And I really do appreciate it, Dji. More than you will probably ever realize. That explains why it was so easy...but you need to help yourself..."_

_Another hiss, this time Djibourdi's eyes shot straight into hers as the air escaped his lungs. This was not a show of dominance, even though Ahsoka hated to admit that the younger of the two was obviously higher on the totem pole, it was a message to her. Djibourdi was severing the bond between them little by little – the bond between their minds and their physical ties to each other. It was hardly something that he wanted to do, but even at such a young age the boy knew something that Ahsoka, and her master, did not. The future was not set in stone. Yet he did know one thing to be true. _

_Ahsoka was going to be leaving sooner than him. She was going to go back and be with her master and train, and the last thing that she needed to have was another presence in her mind to contend with. Ahsoka had a very bad habit of getting attached far too quickly to people – it was not a romantic attachment by any means between them but it was still an attachment of need. Need for comfort, need for presence, need to protect. If she spent her time focusing on him, it would cost her dearly. He had already spent precious resources trying to keep her connection to the Force alive while maintaining his own...and now it was time that it ended. She had more than enough strength to keep up the link and her master was there to help her with it if need be. _

_He rolled his lips a couple times over the sharp teeth. He was severing the bonds between them, forcing Ahsoka to be more and more independent. There would forever be a spiritual bond between them as children of the Chosen, but he was going to make sure there was nothing else. For her sake. But he couldn't do it all at once. Shred by shred he would break them down, avoiding causing her pain while slowly strengthening himself in the process. _

_Yes, it was dangerous for him to have linked her to the Force through his own mind – two souls could not inhabit the same mind at the same time for risk of killing the person it belonged to. But it was worth it. He had done what he intended to do. With her constant attachments and far from subtle way of dealing with things, it would have taken her ages to re-establish the link on her own. He just helped it along. It was dangerous, but just knowing that she would live to fight another day made it worth it. _

_As much as he himself loved subtly (so subtly that Skywalker hadn't noticed his bridgework) the connection that he had wanted with someone for so long, it wasn't right, or fair, to her if he continued to linger in that private realm. He had done what he had intended to do. _

"_Thank you, Dji."_

_He wanted to find the energy in him to run over to her and hug her like any good brother, but he knew what she was trying to do...and it hurt for him to back away from the only person who had offered him understanding. _

_One last time he brought in air and let out a full-toothed hiss, and she seemed to understand then. It had to end somewhere. _

Now as it was they were still around one another, but it was obvious to Ahsoka just how much Djibourdi had been contributing when he finally did begin to withdraw his help. If this was how it felt at the end, she couldn't imagine what it had felt for the endless weeks that her friend had been supplying energy to her without a second thought for his own demise...she hadn't even realized when exactly he had established that connection with her. Surely in all the time that they had been forced to be in one another's company he had had ample time to figure it out, but never before had she known of a person able to do that. Was he really that ready to die just to give her a chance at surviving this?

It didn't take a genius to realize just how much he had been forfeiting to her now that he was receiving it back to himself. In less than two days his skin had gone from off-grey/white to the now peach color that warmed itself in the sun – that wasn't his normal color, for sure she could tell. He would have a very dark color to him with the now very-subtle blaze that created a jagged and crooked line from the tip of his nose up to the large, infinite-pointed star on his forehead. It wasn't as neat and intricate as her own birthmarks or like any others she had ever seen – it looked more like a powerful streak of a paint brush that had gone a bit shakey, leaving its contours far out of the lines. Yet, more to the point, she couldn't help but admit that it fit him very well. He had no other birthmarks. None around his eyes or cheeks or throat. Just the one powerful starlit-streak.

The bruise that had bothered Ahsoka from the moment she arrived – the black, swollen entity that made her want to make her friend's old master suffer – had albeit vanished, leaving only the slightest hint of darkness where it used to be. All of the open sores that had coated his body were either scabbed over or gone, and the now-trademark nasal tubes were missing. All in two days.

"Alright, kiddies," Eddy's voice suddenly called to them and Ahsoka jumped about two feet from where she sat, shooting him a glare.

"Don't do that!"

"My apologies, sweetheart," he feigned to her, giving her a toothy grin, "We should probably get this all started, no? So you can go back and enjoy lunch?"

Ahsoka replied with a harrumph, accepting his hands to help herself stand. She had walked from their room to here on her own, and even now all she needed was help standing – but of course that didn't stop the man who was in charge of her physical therapy from standing immediately next to her as she got her footing. Once she was sure of what she was doing the nurse released her hands and she looked to the therapist, letting him go through the motions with what she herself was already far more confident with than she let on.

After he ensured his patient was on good footing, the therapist gestured down the hall to where more light was streaming into the room.

"You know what to do by now, my young Miss Tano," he told her, light orange skin stretching and allowing him to smile, "We will walk to that end of the room and back as many times as you feel comfortable. Of course I will be next to you just in case you need my help."

"Thanks for that," she told him with little enthusiasm, walking around Eddy to put her left hand against the wall so she could keep her balance.

With measured steps she strutted down the wall, the watchful eyes of the therapist on her with every move she made. Eddy stood still where he had pulled her up off of the bench, watching without a word as she took step after step, actually feeling very confident in how she was moving. She may have been small but she had built so much muscle so quickly that it honestly shocked him. He stole a quick glance at Djibourdi.

He too was watching her as she went, but as soon as she turned to come back toward them the amber eyes suddenly turned downward, the irises quickly forming themselves into slits with determination. That's when the nurse frowned. The boy had turned away from everyone at least once, but not Ahsoka until now. That was certainly unlike him.

"You're going to be outrunning everyone soon," the therapist spoke suddenly, pulling his attention back.

The pair had made it back to where himself and Djibourdi were already, Ahsoka hardly showing any signs of fatigue.

"I told you," the nurse clucked at her, choosing to join the pair as they started on their second trip up the side of the room.

"That's because it's all too easy," she shot back, removing her hand from the wall and walking straight upright.

She didn't see the longing look that was sent her way from behind her.

When they reached the end again she stopped as a sudden chill rocketed up her spine and her head shot up, her training forcing her to try and determine what the disturbance was. With a sudden realization she spun around and gasped, feeling a mix of joy and absolute terror. The adults were just as shocked at the sight.

About twenty feet behind them, standing under his own power with slightly shaking legs was Djibourdi. Standing on his own. He looked up to the group. The therapist made a move to dart over to the boy who he was absolutely certain was about to fall, only to find himself freezing when a cloth-covered arm darted in front of him to impede his move forward. With a shaking breath the nurse lowered himself into a crouch, holding his arms out toward the child that was so far away from him. This was something that Djibourdi had to do for himself – he wanted to prove to himself that he could do it.

"Come on, honey," he spoke to the shaking boy who stood at a distance from him, gesturing his hands just a bit to try and coax him forward, "I know you can do it."

The boy shifted his feet ever so slightly before taking his first step, giving an uncertain grumble in his lungs before taking another. Eyes fixated on the ground as if he was afraid it would fall out from under him, he felt a jolt of fear go through him.

"Look up, little one," the therapist called to him, trying to feed him what instruction he could through his shock, "Keep your eyes on Eddy so you can keep your balance."

Surprisingly the padawan complied, eyes locking firmly onto the man who crouched with his arms eagerly open, waiting for him. Only halfway across the distance Djibourdi could feel his energy waning more than he had anticipated...but he was within ten feet now. Nine and a half. Eight. Every inch pushed what remained of his muscles to the limit and it began to give him the fear that he would go crashing to the ground.

He hesitated then just for a moment, correcting himself the moment he began to click in distress, using a millisecond to gather the emotion and release it off into oblivion. There was no time for second-guessing himself. He had to be sure of this.

"Just a bit more, son," the nurse coaxed to him, his voice dripping in what could only be described as eager anticipation.

Four feet. Three feet. Two. One. The final step was his only stumbling mark as his energy wore out, sending his knees buckling and his body careening right into the arms that caught him and picked him up without hesitation. His weight was nothing to the man who stood with him supported in his arms, strong arms holding his smaller body close to the adult's as he was twirled around, a gentle kiss being placed on his cheek as he hiccuped into the warm shoulder, twig-like arms wrapped around the muscled neck.

Those twenty feet took everything he had and he struggled to breathe through his joyful weeping, but the look Ahsoka gave him validated the emotion. She was crying too.

When they finally got their room back both children fell asleep long before their food arrived, leaving a contemplative Eddy to mull over with Don and Tocarra the events that had occurred a half-hour before.

"Have you ever seen that before?" the older of the two nurses asked Tocarra, to which the elegant head shook the negative.

"No. I have never seen anyone manage that before," she admitted to him as she watched both padawans sleep, "He has fire inside of him. Jedi are amazing creatures."

"They are ancient blood," Eddy told them, "They will show their true strengths yet."

**IOIOIOIOIOIOIOI**

Tada! As I said from the very beginning, trust my master plan. ;)

Hope you all enjoyed it. Be blessed and safe, feel free to please review and/or PM. And thank you all for the favs/follows.

Happy Writing,

~Eliana


	27. Given Life

I have had soooooo many plans for this chapter, but as the story went along I used some of them inside of it so I had quite a bit of fun with this. I am actually quite pleased with it, it did give me quite a bit of joy to write this. Please enjoy it and feel free to review at your will so long as I don't have to report you for flaming.

I won't bother writing the disclaimer or the summary since this is the last of this book, but overall I am overjoyed with the work I've been able to pull off with this story overall. I tried to fit it within the contexts of the seasons – I gave it my best shot. ;)

Bless you all, enjoy!

Happy Writing,

~Eliana

**IOIOIOIOIOIOIOI**

Today was the day Ahsoka had been waiting for since she had arrived here – today was the day she would be leaving to return to the Jedi, intact and very much alive. Of course, it wasn't that she didn't enjoy being here... the people, oh Force the people, they made it feel so much less like torture and so much more like she belonged to a bigger family than she could have ever imagined. Through the pain, the nausea, and the overwhelming sense of dread, they had all been there, long before she could contact her master through their bond again.

She couldn't count the nights that she remembered having trouble falling asleep from pain or just feeling out of place, and someone (either Eddy or Donavan or Tocarra and even Djibourdi at one point) would always find her there, finding some way to make her smile through her own feelings and bring her back to the light through which she had always thrived. Had been a long time coming, this day... or at least that's what she tried to bolster herself with as she stood in the vacant hospital room, fiddling around with her belts since she had somehow miraculously forgotten how they worked.

Even though she was leaving, she was far from fighting strength (as Tocarra felt the need to remind her multiple times). Three weeks minimum, she had been told, she would have to work on basic strength-building and putting the muscle back on that she had lost so very quickly, and knowing Anakin it would probably be much longer than that.

Ahsoka huffed. For being a grown man, he acted more like an overly-cautious mother now that these events had taken place. She had absolutely no doubt at all that she would be stuck interning in the library or babysitting younglings during down times of the day for quite some time...and that certainly wasn't in any way the glorified return to the forces of the Republic she had wanted. She was able to stand on her own now (although a bit shakily after some time) and she could fairly easily walk to and fro to wherever she so chose within the grounds with a supervisor, and that alone was means enough for her discharge. It itself was backed by the results of the blood tests that her doctor had received two days before-hand – the tests that showed absolutely no trace of the Endrati at all, something that Ahsoka herself had believed to be impossible up until that point.

There was still much recovering to be done, she noted as she looked at her rather spindly arms, but she hadn't felt this close to the old Ahsoka than she did at this exact moment in time.

It was ironic, she realized as she glanced down at her old clothing. She had never before felt at all self-conscious, but now with her ribs pricking out from beneath her sunny orange skin and the small scars from the sores that tormented her dotting her stomach, she couldn't help but feel just the slightest twinge of embarrassment. Without much hesitation she turned on her heel and grabbed the tradition Jedi tunic that had been layed out on the bed next to her old clothes. In quick succession she changed out of one and into the other, having to admit to herself that this indeed felt much better for her – much less revealing of the tell-tale scars and still-thin body that she hid beneath it. Her master had brought the garb at one point when he visited (any piece of her home at all was more than what Ahsoka could ever ask for), but in the fluryy of surgery and medical proceedings she had albeit forgotten that the man had brought them for her. Perhaps it was time she invested in a new outfit.

Ahsoka sighed. It did feel nice to be wearing some familiar clothes once again, and even without her lightsaber, which her master had, attached to her hip, she couldn't help but revel in the feeling of joy that snuck into her when she thought of the Temple. Home.

She sunk heavily onto the mattress, knowing that she didn't have the core strength yet to hold herself up as she pulled on the light-weight boots that she was more than ready to slip onto her feet. It would be just a few minutes before her master arrived to take her home, and she wanted their next encounter to remind him that she was indeed worthy of being his apprentice. Of course by now he had force-fed her the notion that he absolutely knew she was worthy and appreciative, yet it was always the whispered after-thought in her mind when she spoke to him either through a messenger or face-to-face. She felt unworthy.

Unworthy – she shivered at the twinge that shot up her spine, halting her motions in tying her second boot to look at the empty bed behind her. That must have been how he felt.

Djibourdi was out in the gardens, the only place he felt like going now that he was more mobile. He had certainly done well in getting his feet under him in the last few days, and even she found it hard to keep up with him once he had made up his mind on where exactly he was going – at one point laughing out loud at the fact that he felt the need to be up every single tree in the gardens while Eddy tried not to panic at the fear of him plummeting to the earth. He still had far too many limits to overcome in order to come home, but that didn't mean he wasn't making progress enough to shock them all – she distinctly recalled the hour of mild panic when no one could find him after he had spend some time outside. Eddy had been watching him and let him be for five minutes, only to look up from his reading to find that the child had vanished into thin air. She, of course, knew exactly where he was, and couldn't help but laugh when she did find him.

"_Ahsoka," Eddy had panted when he finally reached where she sat in a lotus position under the boughs of a great Lusina tree, "I thought you said you found him!"_

"_I did," she told him matter-of-factly, not even blinking at his disbelief._

_The nurse gazed around for a long moment, trying to determine exactly where his charge was hiding. Finding no evidence that Ahsoka was telling the truth he looked at her again with a raised brow, planting his hands on his hips and leaning forward to talk with her again. _

"_Then where is he, missy?"_

_With a grin she didn't give him a verbal response, but with a tip of her head backward she gazed straight up into the branches of the great tree, her eyes easily spying her found friend who lay lax in its branches, his eyes shut in gentle sleep. He was hard to pick out through the orange leaves since his skin was still in the process of retaining its color, the only hint at his hiding place being the light-blue two-piece medical garb that he sported. Without it, Ahsoka was pretty sure she wouldn't have even found him there. Eddy was gaping. Togrutans were not noted for their abilities to scale trees – they were built for stealth and speed, not climbing._

"_...how did he get up there?" he wondered aloud, his eyes now fixed on Djibourdi who was perfectly content in his napping place._

"_Beats me," Ahsoka conceded with a shrug,bringing her head back down to rest at level and stretching her legs out with a small yawn, "but he sure has a good idea."_

_With a laugh the nurse sat down on the ground next to her, leaning back against the tree and closing his own eyes. He lived for days like this. _

Now his bed sat empty, warming in the like of Shili's star in his absence. Undoubtedly Ahsoka was going to make her way down to the gardens to see him for the last time – the last time here, she corrected herself. The last time here. She would see him again, she had to. She set about tying her second boot tightly, moving to fold her other clothes into a neat pile on the corner of the mattress that had been her resting place for Force knew how many rotations.

Ahsoka glanced to the door when a soft knock sounded, returning the calm smile that was on the face of Donavan as he moved to stand by her bedside.

"It fits you well, child," he told her, gesturing to the Jedi robes, "They give you quite the presence."

"Not as much as they used to," she giggled, holding out her arms in a demonstration of how big they had gotten for her, "But they'll fit again."

"I know they will," was the response filled with affection as he presented her with a plastic hollow cube he had been holding, placing it on the mattress next to her and placing the folded clothing into it, "Your master will be here soon."

"I know...I wanted to say goodbye to everyone before I leave."

"I can understand that," he granted her, lowering his head to meet her eyes, "You know we will all miss you, you little cheeky bugger."

Ahsoka smiled at him, knowing in her mind that she was breaking code by latching onto his neck with her next motion but he didn't complain, instead chuckling ever so softly and returning the embrace with a tight hold. It was always an event he both dreaded and eagerly awaited with every child that came through those doors – and one that he had feared, more than once, he would never get to experience with these two. At least one was up and free, that much brought him unyielding joy.

With a sigh he pulled back away from her, keeping two hands on her shoulders to hold her eyes on his own for just a moment longer.

"Will you be a good girl for your master?" he prompted.

"Nope."

"Thatta girl. Give him heck!" he exclaimed, patting her shoulders jovially before grabbing the cube off of her bed, "Well, Eddy and Dji are out in the gardens. I do believe Tocarra should be headed that way too, now that I think about it."

With skilled hands he moved the cube into his left arm, holding his right out at an angle as he gave a playful bow.

"M'lady."

It earned him the slightest of giggles and Ahsoka accepted the offer, looping her hand into the crook of his elbow so she could walk next to him out of the room and down the halls, allotting gentle smiles to the little Togrutans who giggled and laughed around their games. Some had coloring boards, some blocks, and she could spy the occasional child curled up with a stuffed animal or two, snoozing in their beds. She felt a twinge of sadness as the pair entered the elevator.

There was a gentle tap to her ribs by Donavan's elbow, and it earned him her gaze.

"They'll go home soon," he promised her, "None of those little ones had anywhere near the amount of trouble you and Djibourdi did."

"Speaking of," she suddenly thought aloud, "What's going to happen to him?"

"Who? Djibourdi?"

"Yes," she clarified, "I know he's slowly recovering, but when he's ready...well, I think you know what I'm asking."

"I do," the nurse admitted, leading her out of the elevator once it stopped, "but I'm afraid I do not have an answer for you. His fate will be determined by your counsel – I don't know how their rules around such situations are. Should he prove himself strong enough I have no doubt that they will take him back. If not, then it seems I will have a new nephew soon enough."

Ahsoka smiled at that. She dutifully followed the adult down the sunlit hallway toward the entrance to the gardens, knowing that this would probably be her final moments within the walls of this hospital.

"I think that would be great," she told him excitedly, "He would be so happy if he stayed!"

"Just remember dear, that's not our decision to make," Don chided her, "In the end it may be his own decision and I won't tell him what's best for him."

The sliding doors retreated and gave them access to the gardens. Ahsoka had to blink through the sudden increase in light, relishing for a moment the soft breeze that accompanied the scents of the wonderful outdoors. This is why she and her friend so enjoyed being out here versus indoors in the air conditioned, stiff air that smelled strongly of cleaner and sanitizer. A sudden motion out of the corner of her eye had her spotting Tocarra, who was seated on a stone bench beneath one of the trees. In her hand she held a data pad which was absorbing most of her attention until the pair meandered closer.

"Ah! Hello there, Ahsoka," she greeted warmly, "It's good to see you up and about."

"It feels good to be able to," the padawan responded, allowing Donavan to lead her to sit next to the doctor.

"I shall return very shortly," he told them both, handing Ahsoka the cube, "I'm going to try and search out the missing wonder couple."

"Try by the miriad tree," Tocarra told him and watched him trot off before turning back to her patient, "Are you excited to go home?"

"...yeah."

"And no?"

Ahsoka shot her a look.

"Stay out of my head!" she laughed bitterly, looking to the ground, "But you're right. I'm more than ready for things to get back to normal but.. I don't know exactly."

"Allow me to try," the woman prompted, setting down the data pad on the bench next to her, "Obviously the excitement for you is to not be under constant scrutiny, for you to feel better. But If I was in your shoes, I would be a little hesitant to leave everyone behind. Obviously you have a soft spot for Eddy and Djibourdi...and I did notice that things between you two young ones haven't been what they always were before."

"He helped me more than anyone else – no offense." 

"None taken," was the immediately response by the cool voice.

"He led me back to the Force, back to my master. He had been feeding me his own energy this whole time – it could've killed him," she told the adult, placing the cube of her things down onto the ground, "But he did it without hesitation. If anyone should be better and going home it should be him, not me."

"Ah, but you see there is a reason for everything," Tocarra mused aloud, "Djibourdi is obviously no fool, especially not for his age. He knew the risks of what he was doing and weighed the odds to determine that what he was doing was for the greater good of both of you. I personally can't argue with the outcome."

With fondness she looked at the young girl, grasping the smaller hand in a rare show of affection to her. She honestly couldn't argue with the fact that she was getting to watch at least one of the Jedi leave – and with her life, Ahsoka had provided her with yet more evidence that she was that much closer to solving the riddle that was Endrati, something that no one else in history had. If by this Tocarra could save even more lives then it was by all means worth the sleepless nights she had endured for the results she now had. Even more to the point, She was one of the few who, despite having her own beliefs, had confidence still in the Jedi – she owed them a life-debt from years ago, and now with Ahsoka's life being saved, she could officially call it even. Ahsoka returned the squeezing pressure on her hand without hesitation, releasing a toothy smile – one that widened all the more when she spotted Eddy and Don coming up the path toward them.

"Hello ladies," came the familiar tone, earning him one smile and a hug from Ahsoka.

This man was the one she would miss the most outside of her friend who was curiously missing from the group.

"My Ahsoka's leaving me," Eddy fake-sobbed, which was quickly corrected by his teacher's sharp smack over the back of his head.

"Oh you hush that up," she poked at him, going to stand and gesturing for Don to follow her back inside before she grabbed her data pad, "Well young one, I must get back to work. I look forward to hearing about your heroic efforts."

"I will do my best," Ahsoka promised her, and with a finally fond look both M.O.s headed back into the building.

With a dramatic sigh Eddy plopped into the spot his boss had vacated, swinging one arm around Ahsoka's shoulders so he could pull her into a bear hug. She would never forget this man, she vowed as she breathed in his scent, one that smelled so much like the great turu-grass fields that inhabited her home world. He was a rare one in these times, a person who was actually fully innocent to the atrocities of the war and had a heart of gold...she would never forget him. When he pulled back she lowered her eyes, unable to find it in herself to look him in the eye. She didn't have a choice when a small chip was placed firmly into her hand by his own, and she knew immediately what it was.

It was a contact chip – one that could be formatted to hold the contact information of any person and could be used in any form of communication device – anything from a simple wrist-comm to a holo-vid recorder. It enabled the device to call over long distances regardless of its settings...it was an expensive gadget.

"I know it is against your codes to keep contact with outsiders," the nurse suddenly became deadly serious, but I want you to know that I'm always here if you need me, or a place to stay. I have more than enough room for you if it ever came down to it – it's just me in that huge house."

Ahsoka could barely find the words to say, but she brought the chip closer to her in clenched fingers, holding it tight to her chest.

"Thank you," she told him, allowing him to lean forward to plant a firm kiss on her forehead.

"You take care of yourself, little one," he told her firmly, "And you use that if you need it. Anytime, child. Now," he stood then, brushing off his pant legs and gesturing toward the path, "Djiborudi is waiting for you down there under a miriad tree. Did you want me to come with you?"

"No," she responded, standing as well and hiding the small chip in the cube with her things, "I know how he is, he doesn't like a crowd."

"Not at all," Eddy chuckled in response, "Fine then. Down that way – I do believe he has something for you."

Ahsoka followed his gestured direction, trying to appear calm as she carefully picked her way over the leaf-covered stone pathway that led straight to a large, extremely miriad tree with its tri-colored leaflets fluttering about in the soft breeze. Surely enough, seated on a bench just beneath one of the large branches was her friend. Djibourdi, in his usual fashion, sat absolutely still and silent with his eyes closed against the breeze, an almost invisible smile on his lips as he connected deeply with the living Force around him. His hands were loosely placed on his lap, his fingertips pressed together gently. Dressed in the all-too-familiar blue two-piece hospital jumper, Ahsoka did notice the small machine clipped to the waistband of his pants. It must have had something to do with his diabetes she figured, but chose not to comment.

Overall he didn't look too bad, just off-colored skin and obviously too thin for her liking, but all in all she couldn't give too many complaints in comparison to what he had looked like not even two weeks before. It was with a sad twinge that she noted she could still see the marks from where the needles had been pushed into his neck – they would scar. He couldn't escape that but... He looked so peaceful...certainly she didn't want to disturb him, but when the amber eyes cracked open and his head turned to look at her, she felt a surge of relief hit her. At least he came out of it on his own and she didn't have to feel guilty about that.

With a slight tilt of his head he invited her closer and she complied as quietly as she could, knowing that there were probably some kind of animals hiding around him (he had that about him...he could just sit in the window of their room and birds would land on the other side, chirping incessantly). He invited her to sit by moving off to the side slightly and Ahsoka didn't hesitate to quickly take a seat next to him..but she still didn't know what to say. To her shock Djibourdi made the first move, grasping her left hand and slowly pulling it closer to his own left which remained loosely cupped around...something. That something was plopped into her hand and her fingers were closed around it by his own (his own that were much warmer, so much warmer than she had remembered).

When his hold was relinquished and the hesitant hands retreated, Ahsoka met his eyes. He held them for a long moment and then looked to her clasped hand, as did she with a decent amount of curiosity. Silently she opened her hand and raised the other to cover her open mouth at what it was that she held in her now-shaking grasp. She recalled now that she had seen Djibourdi fiddling around with something aimlessly over the past couple of days but he had never let her see exactly what it was – nor did he allow Eddy to spill the beans on what he was bringing into the room day by day with his hands slightly damp as if he had been sticking his hand in a lake. Now she saw.

Removing her hand from her lips she grasped the necklace slowly, pulling it out of her cupped hand so that she could fully view the diamond-shaped pearl that was bound by white, expertly woven kineta weed – it was a plant that was hard to find, but when it was treated, it would reflect light as this one did so easily, giving off the color of snow. Ahsoka gulped heavily.

"It's- " she lost her voice, feeling tears bite at her eyes, "Oh Force Dji, it's..."

Throwing caution to the wind she leapt into her friend, pressing their cheeks together despite his instinctive reaction of throwing his arms up and tensing against her sudden movement. Yet, to her, joy, after a moment he relaxed, not returning the embrace but allowing himself to relax enough for his forehead to press against her shoulder. It was the best he could manage against his fearfully pounding heart, and it was more than enough.

This was the one she would miss most, Ahsoka told herself as she held her friend loosely, but he was one she was absolutely sure she would see again, whether on the battle field or when she would return to Shili one day. His scent was one she committed to memory, the scent of sandlewood and koiya flowers – an odd mixture but one that accented him so well, and one that she was absolutely certain that if she happened across it again she would know it immediately.

It took her a long moment to pull back away from him, trying to stay as close to her friend as time would allow, and he hardly was ready to draw away from her. Her eyes still crusted in tears, Ahsoka brought the necklace up to her throat, latching it under her lekku with little effort. It wasn't a very long necklace, in fact it hugged her neck right above her collarbone, but it fit surprisingly well for being made free-hand.

"I promise I'll always wear it," she told him, running two fingers over it gently as if to try and feel his presence on it.

Djibourdi gave her a rare, tight-lipped smile, his eyes watching her with such an air of affection she could've sworn that he was actually being protective of her. She could feel her face darken with a slight blush, opening her mouth to speak but was interrupted by Eddy's voice that called from a distance away.

"Ahsoka!" he called out, "Your master is here!"

"Coming!" she yelled back and stood, only to hesitate.

Making a quick decision, she quickly leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on Djibourdi's cheek despite his slightly bewildered look.

"I'll see you soon," she promised him, snapping a picture in her mind of her friend as he moved one of his hands to wave goodbye.

If she didn't leave now she wouldn't later – that much she knew. So, drawing courage from within herself, she gave him one last watery smile before turning around rather quickly and trotting up the path toward her master, leaving Djibourdi where he sat beneath the ancient tree. She never knew that saying goodbye could hurt this much, and Anakin could obviously feel her despair as he calmly brushed against her mind in reassurance. Turning a corner she finally saw him as he stood talking to Eddy in front of the bench where the nurse had been sitting for the moments she had spent with her friend.

Anakin looked up at her with warm blue eyes, reaching a hand out to rest on her cloth-covered shoulder when she came up to his side. Raising an eyebrow, he moved to tap the little diamond-shaped pearl necklace, and she shrugged in response.

"I kinda like it."

"I do too, Snips. It suits you," he complimented her, "You ready to go home?"

"Lead the way, Skyguy."

"Oh! Wait!" the Jedi suddenly exclaimed, fishing around in the pockets of his robes for something for a long moment before making a sound of victory, "Aha!"

He pulled out Ahsoka's Akul-tooth headress, handing it to her to put on. Force knew he had stabbed himself in the hand too many times to keep trying to play with it, so he instead chose to let her fiddle with it before he had yet another accident. She pulled it on without incident, reveling in the feel of the teeth on her head. That was more like it. Her master produced her padawan braid from his pocket as well (how many things did he have in there?!), taking it upon himself to snap it back onto her headress, allowing himself to run it through his fingers for a long moment before he let it dangle from his padawan's head where it rightfully belonged.

"That's my girl," he told her lowly and holding her gaze before accepting the cube from Eddy, "Thank you for taking care of her, my friend."

"It was my pleasure, Master Skywalker," the nurse told him, "You take care of her."

"I always will. You watch after the little one until he comes home."

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

Eddy looked to Ahsoka.

"As for you, young lady – it's been a pleasure, but I never want to see you here again."

"I'll do my best," she laughed, allowing him the joy of one last handshake before walking back into the halls next to her master, trying hard not to look back.

Cutting through the busy lobby they made it out to the landing dock and Ahsoka could easily recognize the familiar old spice-trader that she had missed far too much. She slowly took the ramp into the ship with careful steps, remembering what the therapist had told her – eyes up, breathe through you nose, don't stick your tongue out at Skyguy who thinks you're about to fall on your face (….okay, so that one was improvised). He did have that look though, he was even bent slightly in her direction as if he was ready to catch her the moment she slipped.

...this was going to be a loooooong flight back to Coruscant.

Djibourdi stayed where he had sat since Ahsoka had left, returning to his previous position and breathing deep to try and reconnect with the Force in an effort to find peace. He had successfully destroyed the Force-bond he had created between them, now he had to work on the other bond...the one he didn't make. The one he didn't want. The living Force was strong here, it gave him peace in the wake of Ahsoka's departure.

The sound of a person near his side had his eyes snapping open and darting in their direction, taking in Eddy who stood next to him.

"You'll see her again," the nurse told him, "We both know that. You've given her hope."

He had given her life.

A roar of ship engines above his head had him looking up with the brightest of smiles, a single pair of amber eyes watching the old spice-trader slowly make its way into space, taking Ahsoka home.

He had given her life.

**IOIOIOIOIOIOIOI**

Thus is the end of Tribulation of the Chosen, a work in progress for quite some time. I am happy to have finished it finally, overall I am quite pleased with the outcome. Please feel free to review and PM, you know the deal. I will gather ideas for new stories as the days go on and I hope I can better myself even more with time.

Happy Writing,

~Eliana


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